New Rookies and Sneaking Around
by mikkiemakkie
Summary: 15 Division has a new batch of Rookies for the officers to have fun with while Andy and Sam are forced into facing their feelings for each other. Set before Andy and Sam get together...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thought I'd try my hand at writing something different from AoS...**

* * *

"15 DIVISION! MEET YOUR NEW ROOKIES!" Oliver shouted, raising his glass to the air.

"Rules are simple. Get out of the cuffs any way you can. First one out drinks for free. The rest of you pay the tab. On three. One, Two, THREE" Sam explained, counting them all down to action.

As he yelled 'three' the six bodies were released from their hold and were wriggling and writhing to try and free their hands from the 'cuffs, captivating the attention of everyone. Everyone that is except Sam and Andy, who seemed to be taking it in turns to lose attention in the activity and look at each other while taking a swig of their drink, and Oliver, who was more interested in what was going on between his two friends than the fresh meat at the bar.

He hadn't missed the lingering looks, the quick, soft touches or how they could read each other like an open book, even if everyone else had.

Right now, Oliver could see Sam bend and whisper something into Andy's ear, at least he hoped he was whispering, but the bar was kind of loud, so it could just be that he was trying to be heard. He saw her look at him and nod before Sam waved his hand in the air for the bar tender.

"HA! I got you!" Oliver thought as he watched Sam place a gentle hand on Andy's arm.

Suddenly there was a loud whooping as one of the rookies hands flew into the air, cuffs dangling around one wrist.

Oliver chuckled and diverted his attention back to the planned entertainment as the bartender placed six shots on the bar.

Five heads bobbed down, sealing their lips around the top of the glass and tipping their heads back to swallow their drink, while the winner tipped the drink down their neck with his free hand.

By the time Oliver looked back at Andy and Sam, Sam was sat alone, nursing a scotch.

"Sam. You know I am only saying this because I care. You need to talk to her."

"About what?" Sam asked, raising a solitary eyebrow in confusion.

Oliver shook his head and ordered another beer. He was worried about Sam's denial of what was becoming painfully obvious.

Sam's cell rang and he answered it so fast, Oliver was sure it was Andy. He only ever saw Sam move that quick when it was.

He tried to hear the conversation Sam was having, but all he could hear were grunts above the rucas that the Black Penny had become.

"I'll call her and see if she's ok with that." Sam said before hanging up.

He saw Oliver wave a curious eyebrow at him and he shook his head.

Sam threw a bill on the counter, pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door.

* * *

"Alright! Settle down!" Frank called to the packed room.

Silence immediately fell over the room.

"I know you all know the speech by now, but no amount of training will prepare you to do this job. Each day is as taxing as the last, but different for any number of reasons. Ok. So pairings, from tomorrow, will be on the rosta board, but for today the pairings are as follows: Shaw and Butterworth."

Oliver left out a sigh and shook his head before looking at the blonde haired rookie who was beaming.

"Why do I always get stuck with the overeager ones?" he muttered as Frank announced the next pairing.

"Williams and Paul."

Noelle looked sideways at Oliver before looking at her rookie.

"Diaz and Pepper."

"Pepper?" Chris asked.

"That's me. And it has nothing to do with my hair." The rookie named Pepper said, rising his hand in the air.

"Peck and Hancock"

"You have got to be kidding me? You're assigning me a rookie? Do you not know I could end your career right now." Gail grumbled.

"Anderson and McNally."

If the room was silent before, you could have heard a pin drop with how quiet it was now. As one, all of the officers' heads turned to look at Sam and Andy to try and gauge their reactions.

They shared a glance out of the corners of their eyes, smiles playing at the corners of their mouths before looking straight ahead.

"And if you would all divert your attention back to me, your staff sergeant, who you are supposed to be paying attention to right now, I will announce the final pairing as Swarek and Little.

Now I know you must all be curious, but please try and focus on your jobs. Let's Serve, Protect, and try not to overreact." Frank concluded, staring Sam straight in the eye.

The second Frank finished speaking, there was a scrape of chairs on the floor as everyone got to their feet to find their respective partners and gather their keys. Only Oliver hung back to talk to Frank.

"You arranged this last night? You were the one to call Sammy?"

"Yeah. I finally got the rookies reports. Little is shy and lacks confidence. Anderson is a legacy. Assertive, dominant and as cocky as hell."

"So you pair the wallflower with Sam Swarek and the arrogant one with McNally?"

"I have my reasons Oliver."

"You do know if anything happens to her Sam is gonna flip."

"I gave careful consideration into this. I paired Anderson with McNally for two reasons. One, she is, herself, a legacy."

"And the second?"

"Andy McNally is the first person I know of that has stood up to Sammy and managed to reign him in. He was a good cop before they met. Now, he's even better. McNally's development as a copper has been greatly influenced by him which is why he has been given the wallflower."

"And if McNally gets hurt?"

"She won't get hurt."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed this so far! I have got them all even if you ant see them on the site! Just so you know the title was supposed to read - New Rookies/Sneaking Around**

* * *

"Can I drive?" Anderson asked Andy as she turned down a road.

"No."

"You do know I am a Legacy right?"

"Do I look as though I care?" Andy retorted with a hard edge to her voice.

"You don't like me very much do you?"

"I don't know you well enough to like or dislike you. I don't trust you, but it is my job to make sure that we both make it home tonight. So if you do what I tell you to, _not_ what you think is the right thing to do, then we might just make it."

"I know this job. I have trained for it. My parents were cops."

"Do you know what it's like to be shot? Do you know what it's like to talk a suicidal person of a ledge? Have you ever had to perform CPR on a 15 year old girl who has taken a drug overdose, or feed a jerky cat when the owner, who you rescued from a burning car, died on route to hospital and who you thought would be alright? Have you ever forgot to load your weapon and then had to talk your way out of a situation where they are effectively armed and you are not in any way, shape or form? Have you ever shot and killed someone?"

"No."

"Then you have no idea what it's like to be a cop. The only way you are going to learn how to do this job it is by actually doing it. Everything you think you know, you don't. So just do what I say, when I say it."

Andy rolled her eyes as she heard Anderson mutter 'whatever' under his breath. She knew then that this would be a long shift.

* * *

"You're being quiet. I'm not used to quiet. I'm used to an allergy to silence." Sam said, glancing at his rookie as he did, while reprimanding himself for being as chatty as Andy.

"We have a report of a disturbance at 202 Sally Drive. Any units able to attend?" a voice crackled over the radio.

Sam pressed the black button and spoke into his radio.

"1509 responding."

* * *

"So Frank split McSwarek up to teach to two weak links a lesson?" Noelle asked Oliver disbelieving.

"I know. He said it made sense to him."

"It does in a way. I mean, two weakest learning off the strongest partnership I have ever seen. I mean they are so in sync it's scary."

"We have a report of a disturbance at 202 Sally Drive. Any units able to attend?"

Oliver and Noelle looked at each other as they heard both Sam and Andy respond to the call at the exact same time.

"Case in point!" Noelle laughed, raising her coffee cup in a toast.

* * *

Andy arrived on the scene before Sam did. She parked the car and climbed out, followed by Anderson.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to shut up and take notes."

"That it?"

"Until you get the hint, that is all I want you to do."

"What hint?"

"Now what is the point of me telling you what the hint is?"

Andy made it to the other side of the car and took one step up the drive when a man burst out of the door and took off running.

Andy chased after him, her legs moving as fast as they could. She was gaining ground. She saw her target disappear around a corner and followed. She turned the corner and came to a stop in a cross section of alleyways. Her target: vanished.

* * *

Sam arrived on scene to see Anderson comforting a woman on the steps to a house. She was in tears and Anderson had his arm around her, smug look on his face.

Sam got out of the car and headed over to them.

"Where's McNally?" Sam asked, noticing her absence.

"She took off after a suspect. Went that way." Anderson told him, pointing down the street.

"And you didn't go with her?" Sam asked, his voice icy, looking down the street.

"This lady here needed support."

Sam waved Anderson over to one side.

"Is the lady bleeding? Is she going to die if you don't put your arms around her?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No." Anderson finally conceded.

"Let me make this clear to you. You NEVER. EVER. LEAVE. YOUR. PARTNER. If she gets hurt because you didn't have her back, I will destroy you. Legacy or not. Is it going to be too much to ask for you to protect my rookie?" Sam warned him before taking off after Andy.

He ran down the street, heart pounding in his ears, straining to hear anything that would lead him to her. Hearing a scuff behind him, Sam realised Little had followed him. Glancing backwards, he saw he had his gun drawn.

He let his instinct direct him and eventually he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.

A gunshot.

* * *

Andy drew her gun from her belt and started moving cautiously. She knew he was still there somewhere. She had good instincts and Sam had helped to fine tune and develop them.

She had realised she was on her own once she saw the suspect disappear, which made her feel more vulnerable.

Andy peeked around the corner of one of the cross sections and she saw the flash of a coat disappear around another corner, further down the alley.

Speeding up, Andy followed him. She made it to the end of the alley and was about to make the turn when something hit her, knocking her into a wall, her finger pulling the trigger of her gun, before dropping it.

In pain and winded, Andy sunk to the floor, unable to move. She watched as the man threw the wood plank to the floor and pick up the gun.

Knowing that she was alone and knowing the suspect had the upper hand; Andy closed her eyes and waited for the bullet that would destroy her. A tear slid down Andy's cheek as she thought of Sam and how the only thing that had happened between them was their night of almost passion. It was so clear, she thought she could hear his voice.

Eventually, as she expected it to, the shot came.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: 31 reviews in 2 chapters... I adore you all... although while I accept constructive criticism (please PM me for this) - I do not appreciate rude, sarcastic and passive aggressive reviews. Fanfiction is a place where writers come to express their creativity and allow other to enjoy it. If you don't like my style, please exercise your right not to read it!**

 **I apologise about my rant, but I really don't like rude reviews!**

* * *

Sam could almost smell her perfume. It was lingering in the air. He knew he was on the right track.

As he rounded the last corner, he stopped. His worst fears coming to life.

Andy was slumped against the wall, her eyes closed and a suspect holding a gun to her head. His heart nearly tore in two when he saw a tear fall down Andy's face.

"Why didn't you draw your gun?" Sam wondered as he crept silently towards them, before realising the suspect had Andy's gun.

He saw the suspect fondling the trigger lovingly, pulling it closer, and closer.

"Police, Put the gun down!" Sam announced.

The suspect looked at Sam and Little and then back at Andy, and began to weigh his options. Eventually he turned his gun to Sam and fired, missing his head by inches.

Sam, seeing what the suspect was about to do, fired his own weapon at the same time, hitting him square in the chest.

Andy heard the shot and when she felt nothing she opened her eyes to see Little kicking her gun away and Sam kneeling in front of her, swimming in and out of focus. He cupped her chin in both hands and forced her to look into his eyes, the tears Andy had been fighting began to flow freely.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked her, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

Andy nodded and covered his hands with hers.

They sat this way until they could hear the sirens in the distance and Sam looked to see the ambulance driving down the alley, followed by a police car.

"Sammy, what the hell happened?" Oliver demanded as he got out of the cruiser.

"I'm not sure, but I will wring that little arrogant gits neck when I get back to him." He said, removing his hands from Andy's face and dropping them to her sides to help her up.

"Easy Sammy."

"Easy? He nearly got _my_ rookie killed because he is too arrogant and thinks he knows everything already."

"I'm not your _rookie_ anymore Sam." Andy told him, wincing as he pulled her to her feet.

"No, you're right." Sam conceded "You're my partner. I will still wring his neck."

"Let me do it." Andy asked, locking her eyes in his, pleading.

* * *

"Andy, you need a ride home?" Oliver asked, nodding at Frank's office, indicating that the investigation into Sam discharging his weapon would go on for a while.

Sam, feeling Andy eyes on him glanced through the window of Frank's office and smiled at her, revealing his dimples.

Andy returned Sam's smile and followed Oliver to the door.

Just as she reached the car, her cell phone rang. Recognising the tone as the one she had set for her dad, she answered it.

"Hey. _Pause._ Yeah I'm ok. _Pause._ I'm fine. _Pause._ Yeah, I'm sure. _Pause._ It was just a long day at work. _Pause._ My Plans? Home, hot bath, bed. _Pause._ No it's ok. _Pause._ I know. I love you too."

Oliver's eyebrows rose into his hairline and he looked at her over the roof of the car. Could he have been wrong about her? Could she have a boyfriend? Is that why Sam was stubbornly not making a move?

"My dad." Andy explained, seeing the look Oliver was giving her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Oliver got into the car and unlocked the passenger side door to let Andy in.

"The old man ok? He sticking to the programme?"

"Six months sober on Friday." Andy told him.

As much as she tried to hide her dad's alcoholism from her friends and colleagues, those that knew him as a police officer knew he was having trouble. Those of them like Oliver tried to help Andy where they could.

"Are you ok? Sammy told me you took a hit."

"I'm fine. Why do people keep thinking I'm some timid little girly girl who cries when she breaks a nail? Did Sam tell you I cried?"

"Anyone who has met you would never see you like that Andy. You are one of the strongest women I have ever met and if I had been knocked to the ground with a plank of wood followed by having my own gun pointed at my head I think I would have cried too. And no, Andy. He didn't. He told me you were as tough as boots." Oliver told her, reaching over and squeezing her arm. "You also stopped him from ripping Anderson limb from limb."

"Oliver, what's you point?"

"Only you can stop Sam Swarek overreacting and doing something stupid. What you got planned?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"If you need any help with this, I'm your guy. I love me a bit of Rookie hazing."

"Oliver! You do know hazing is illegal."

"Did I say hazing? I meant team building exercises." Oliver joked, making Andy laugh and causing her to wince as a shooting pain passed through her side.

Oliver pulled up to Andy's apartment to find a male sitting on the stoop.

"Thanks for the ride Oliver. I'll see you tomorrow." Andy said, leaning over, kissing him on the cheek and getting out of the car. Oliver chuckled as he heard the conversation that followed between Andy and her father.

"Dad! I told you I was fine."

"I know princess. But I have always been able to tell when you are lying to me. Now how about you help me eat this Chinese and make your old man a brew."

"A brew?" Andy asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I hear tea is good for calming nerves."

"My nerves are calm dad."

"Mine aren't."

Andy let Tommy into the building and led him up to her apartment. Once she had shut the door, he dumped the food on the counter and started rummaging for plates.

"So why don't you tell me what happened?"

"When did you become a shrink?"

"I'm not, but I have been in nearly every situation imaginable, and having your own gun pointed at your head is one of the worst."

"Who told you?"

"I have my sources. Tell me what happened."

"I responsed to a 911 disturbance call. A guy came out of the house running and I took off after him. I realised my partner wasn't with me."

"Sam didn't follow?" Tommy asked, confused.

"No, not Sam. I got a Rookie with an attitude problem. A Legacy."

"Frank split you and Sam up?"

"He asked us first."

"Why?"

"Thought the two worst rookies would learn best off the two of us."

"Ok. So you set off running and your Rookie didn't follow, leaving you on your own. What next?"

"I drew my gun and crept forward. I had my eyes in front of me the entire time. I saw him disappear around a corner and followed. When I got to the corner, he hit me with a plank of wood. I flew into the wall and my gun fell out of my hand. I couldn't breathe, dad."

"You hurt?"

"Only when I try and breathe." Andy admitted, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"Let me see." Tommy ordered, dishing out the food.

Andy shook her head to refuse, but seeing the look on Tommy's face, she lifted her top and showed him the spiders' web bruise that was beginning to form all the way down her side where she was hit.

"There's a wound here." Tommy said, pointing out a small circle of scabbed over blood just below where her protective vest would have reached.

"I guess the wood had a nail in it."

"You didn't feel it?"

"I had been hit by a plank of wood. It hurt everywhere."

"You get a tetanus shot?"

"I had one at the Academy. I'm good for another 5 years."

"What happened next?" Tommy prodded, handing Andy a pair of chopsticks.

"I saw him pick my gun up. I couldn't move. I saw him point it between my eyes."


	4. Chapter 4

"Are we done?"Sam asked Frank as IA wrapped up their questions.

"We're done. You acted in defence of a fellow officer and you used reasonable force." The IA officer told him "There's no need for a suspension."

"Great. Then I'm gone."

Sam headed towards his truck and jumped in. The image of Andy crying seared into his brain. He hit the steering wheel with both hands, wanting to vent his anger on something. Checking the time, Sam started his truck and drove on instinct.

Before he knew it, he was outside Andy's apartment.

"She's probably fast asleep by now." Sam debated with himself, before looking up at her apartment. Seeing a light was still on Sam climbed out of his car, stopped the door locking as a tenant left the building and climbed the stairs and getting lost in his thoughts. Before he knew it, he was face to face with Andy's door.

He raised his hand and was about to knock when he heard a muffled voice through the door. When he heard a second, lower, muffled voice, he realised that Andy wasn't alone. She was with a man.

Sam stared at the door for a second, lowered his hand and stalked back to his truck. He knew he should go home and sleep. It had been an exhausting day. Instead, Sam headed back to the station, changed into his training gear and headed to the gym. He strapped boxing gloves to his hands and started pounding the punch bag.

* * *

"Morning Sam." Andy said as she arrived at Parade the following morning.

Sam walked straight past her and propped himself up against the wall at the opposite side of the room.

"What was that about?" Traci hissed, watching Oliver talk to Sam. He was probably saying the same thing to Sam as she was to Andy.

"I have no idea." Andy told her, perplexed.

"He looks like you told him you hate his guts."

"He looks like he did the night of the black out."

"Tell me you two didn't try to hook up again?"

"No. My dad surprised me with dinner last night."

"So why is he so mad?"

"Beats me. Great. I get Anderson again."

"Could be worse. Could be a fuming Swarek."

* * *

"Seriously Sammy, what happened? You just walked straight past McNally, not even acknowledging her 'morning Sam'."

"Nothing. Long night."

"Hence the sunglasses, but not why you're avoiding McNally."

"I'm not avoiding McNally."

"Then why are you not glued to her hip as you usually are and why are you relieved to be working with Little again?"

"Professional space."

"Professional space my ass."

* * *

"So you do as I say, when I say it. You do not go off half cock by yourself because that's when you get into trouble. If I start running, pretend I am a bomb technician." Andy was saying to Anderson.

"But what if..." Anderson started asking

"No." Andy snapped, cutting him off.

"Or if..."

"No. Do not even get out of the car unless I give you my express permission. You are a Rookie, a no body. I do not even care who your parents are."

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"One more rule. Do not treat me like a friend. You do not know me. You do not know my life and you have no idea. So no personal comments, of any type."

Anderson rolled his eyes and took to staring out of the window.

* * *

It was rare that Sam was thankful for a shy rookie, but today was one of the days he was. Until Little couldn't bear the silence any more.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Got something to do with your partner?"

"Drop it."

"You try something and she blow you off?"

"I said drop it."

"Maybe there was a reason she blew you off."

Sam stopped the car and turned to look at the Rookie.

"I said leave it. My partnership with McNally is a complicated one and is something I don't really want to talk about."

"You are totally into her."

"Will. You. Just. Drop. It."

"I mean I don't blame you. She's kinda hot."

"Don't even go there." Sam warned him, before thinking "I thought this guy was supposed to be lacking confidence."

* * *

"So you're trusting me to go in there and bring out this wanted criminal?" Anderson asked.

"That's about the size of it."

"Why?"

"What can I say, I may be suffering from a head injury from yesterday, or I could be starting to trust you. Just go in there, arrest the suspect and bring them out here. Oh before I forget, here's your warrant." Andy told him, handing him an envelope.

"Alright. Thanks Andy." Anderson beamed, getting out of the car and bouncing off to the building.

"Don't thank me just yet" she waved after him through the clenched teeth of her false smile.

Once Anderson had disappeared into the building, Andy relaxed her face, remembering when Sam had pulled this on her. Immediately she felt a pressure build up in her chest which she swallowed down. If Sam had been talking to her, she would thoroughly be enjoying the wind up of Anderson.

She was lost in her own thoughts until the door opening brought her to her senses. Anderson was back and he was empty handed.

"That wasn't funny." He stated as he slammed the door behind him.

"Do you see me laughing?"

"I got to the room where the suspect was and I was all 'I have a warrant for your arrest' and when they demanded to see it I handed it over. They looked in the envelope and started laughing before pulling out a CHINESE MENU!"

"Your point being?"

"MY POINT? WHAT THE HELL? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME KILLED?" Anderson yelled.

"That was to teach you that you do not know anything about this job. What have you learned from this little, _exercise_?

"Exercise? That was an exercise?" Anderson yelled.

"Yes. It was one Sam used on me and I learnt my lesson fairly quickly. So what did you learn?"

"That you're out to get me."

"I'm not out to get you. And you know what, I know I'm meant to be teaching you, but so far nothing I have taught has sunk in."

"You gave me a fake warrant."

"Yes, and you should have checked it before even stepping into that building." Andy snapped, which caused Anderson's reply to die on his lips, instead making him slam his body back into the seat and stare out of the window.

"Definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Andy heard Anderson mumble under his breath.

* * *

 **A/N: Just because so many of you requested it!**

 **I know this (and a couple more tricks) are pulled straight out of the show, but they are just warming up with what they know...**

 **And thanks you all you lovely people who took time out of their day to review - if you leave me one from an account I will always try to respond. If you leave me one as a guest I do read them and I do appreciate the kind words!**

 **lilou - I loved your review - my French is very rusty (I do want to improve it) so I didn't understand most of what you wrote in your review, but Google helped me translate and I appreciate every word.**

 **Jut so you all know - I am working on that many different projects right now I am implementing a writing schedule for myself so the update rate is going to slow down so that I can finish some of my other fics off as well as write this sone**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So... I referred to my new writing schedule and discovered that Friday night is Rookie Blue night!**

 **I still adore you all!**

* * *

"Andy! You heading home?" Oliver shouted across the pen.

"Yeah. I was gonna go to the Penny, but I'm not feeling it." Andy told him, not wanting questions on what had happened between her and Sam.

"Want a ride?"

"I think I'd rather walk. Thanks though!"

Andy knew that accepting a ride off Oliver would mean questions. He had clearly not got anything from Sam, but she also knew he wouldn't believe her if she told him she didn't know why Sam was so pissed off.

"It's cold, wet and there is a rapist on the loose."

"I'll take my chances."

"I'll phone your dad."

"Fine."

Oliver led Andy out to his car and opened the door for her.

"Don't."

Oliver slammed the door closed and walked around to the drivers' side and got in.

"Don't ask why my best friend has a face like thunder and is avoiding you?" He asked, fastening his seat belt.

"I don't know Oliver. He hasn't spoken to me since I left yesterday. I don't know why he's in a mood."

"He didn't come home last night."

"He didn't stay at mine if that's what you're asking."

* * *

Oliver got back to Sam's place to find him alone, sat on the sofa, drinking a beer and watching the game.

Knowing that getting Sam to open up would take tact, not bluntness, Oliver went to go and get a beer.

"Who's winning?"

"Do you even know who's playing?"

"Nope."

"Do you even care?"

"Nope."

"Then drop it."

"Drop what?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I asked Andy if she knew what was wrong, she doesn't even know what she's done to upset you."

"Upset, I'm not upset."

"Try telling that to your face."

"What do you want?"

"I want to know what's eating you."

"I went to her place last night."

Sam had said it so quiet that Oliver nearly missed it and spat beer all over the TV.

"Jees Bro!" Sam exclaimed, while Oliver wiped his mouth of beer spatter.

"Excuse me, but did you say you went to her place last night?" Oliver coughed out.

"I went to check on her. She was more hurt than she was letting on."

"And you have turned into a moody hormonal teenager because?"

"She wasn't alone" Sam grunted.

"Did you knock?"

"No. I heard their voices. So I left. I didn't want to intrude."

"You are an asshole."

Sam's phone started ringing.

"Don't answer that." Oliver demanded, knowing Sam was looking for an excuse to end the conversation.

"How am I an asshole? She was with someone, so I backed off. Wouldn't want to scare him off now would I?"

Another cell phone started ringing.

"I'd like to see you scare this guy off." Oliver mumbled while routing for his phone.

Finding it, he glanced at the screen. Concerned, he answered it. There was crying on the other end.

"Andy, honey? What's wrong?"

Sam who was pretending to be distracted by the game, snapped his head back and looked at Oliver, his face full of concern, waiting for him to hang up.

"Hold tight sweetheart. Be there soon."

He hung up the phone, his face pale.

"You really are an asshat. The 'other' person who was in her apartment last night was Tommy. He called her while I dropped her off and was waiting for her when we got to her place. I guess he stayed for a while and they talked for the same reason you went over."

* * *

Andy hovered in the waiting room, waiting to hear something about her dad. All she knew was that he had been stabbed and was in critical condition. She was pacing and she knew it. She knew she was biting her nails, a nervous habit that she picked up as a child and she didn't care. She knew that she must look a mess, but she just wanted to see her dad.

She had tried calling Sam, but he was clearly still in a mood with her because he left it go to voicemail which never happens.

"What a night for Sam to not be talking to me!" She thought before emitting a small laugh at the absurd thought.

Taking a breath she called Oliver's cell. She felt that she was keeping it together well.

The second Oliver answered Andy broke down. She was crying before Oliver could even open his mouth.

"It's my dad. He's in the hospital. They've told me he was stabbed. What do I do Oliver? I mean I'm at the hospital, but they still won't tell me anything!"

Andy listened while Oliver told her to hold tight, he was on his way, and that everything would be ok.

* * *

"Andy?" Sam called as he made it through the ER doors.

He frantically searched the waiting room, looking for the face he knew would break his heart to see. He sensed her behind him before he saw her and spun to face her.

She was stood looking at him, eyes red rimmed and tears glistening on her cheeks. Sam took a hesitant step towards her and opened his arms.

Andy ran into them and Sam wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into her hair.

Andy cried harder into his shoulder.

"It's going to be ok. SSSSSHHHHHHH! It's going to be ok." He cooed, rubbing her back soothingly, gently holding her head to his shoulder.

They stood this way for about ten minutes while Andy regained control. Once she had stopped crying Sam let go of her and led her over to the chairs, sitting her down and placing a protective arm around her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know. I was just getting out of the bath and I got the call. They said there was a witness."

"Andy."

"Sam, don't."

"Don't apologise for being an ass to you today?"

Andy placed her head on Sam's shoulder and he pulled her in tighter. They were now so close she was nearly sat on his knee.

"Right now I don't care." She whispered, her voice hoarse and breaking, nuzzling her face into Sam's neck and taking hold of the hand to the arm she was incapacitating.

"No. I owe you an explanation." Sam told her, slowly moving his free hand to cup her face.

Sam felt Andy heave another sob against his neck and realised now was probably not the time to admit to her why he had acted the way he had towards her. He started to stroke the side of her face to calm her down, but it was another fifteen minutes before the heaving stopped and a further five before Sam felt the wetness against his neck dry up.

He could hear her heavy rasping breathing and his heart ached because she was hurting for her dad.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: YAY! It's Friday night!**

 **Thank you for the majority of kind reviews. I am trying to reply to all of them but there are soooo many!**

 **I have said this before - if you want to be nasty, please don't do it on this site - especially as a guest reviewer.** **I am not forcing you to read my 'crappy little girly fanfiction'. If you don't like it, please don't read it!**

 **Now that is said (again), here's the next chapter...**

* * *

As soon as he told Sam that Tommy had been stabbed and was being taken care of, Oliver knew that Sam would be the best person to comfort Andy. He wanted to find out what had happened.

"Frank!" he yelled as he burst through the door.

"Oliver? I thought you'd gone home?"

"I did, but I got a call Tommy's been stabbed."

"Why did you get the call?" Frank asked, confused. It was a well known fact that Andy and Sam were inseparable.

"I told Sammy not to answer his phone. I wanted answers over today. He's headed over there now."

"I've had a report of a stabbing, but I didn't realise it was Tommy." Frank admitted.

"What happened?" Oliver asked

"Ollie, you know I can't..."

"Frank. It's me, it's Sammy, and more importantly it's McNally. Do you really think those two will be happy with the standard answer of 'we can't discuss an open case with you'? Do you also think that if you keep them out of the loop they won't go be all McSwarek, I mean look at what happened when Tommy was a murder suspect."

"When was Tommy a murder suspect?" Frank asked cocking his eyebrow.

"It was, wait, that's not the point. The point is one of our own is hurt and in the hospital and I want to know why!"

"Alright, fine." Frank conceded, holding up a hand to stem the babble from Oliver, knowing he was right. He pulled him to one side before continuing:

"There was a witness. She said she was walking home from her evening class and she felt a hand cover her mouth. She said that she was dragged backwards into an alley where she was pushed against a wall. The ass tried to rape her."

"Where does Tommy fit into this?"

"He was walking past the end of the alley and heard the girl scream, and not in a pleasurable way."

"So being Tommy, he went to investigate and got a knife to the gut for his trouble?"

"Pretty much. The girl ran to the nearest shop and dialled 911."

"I better let Andy know"

"Do it in the morning, she won't be able to hear you tonight."

* * *

"Alright you lot! Calm down!" Frank ordered during the following mornings briefing.

Silence fell over the room.

"Where's McSwarek?" Chris piped up, noticing the absence of Sam and Andy.

"McSwarek is on special assignment today. Little and Anderson, you two will be riding together. Do not, and I repeat this, do not screw up.

Peck, Diaz, I want you two to stay behind. Protect, Serve and don't make my headache worse."

There was a scrabble as chairs were pushed back from tables. There was only one topic of conversation. Andy and Sam.

"Special Assignment my ass. They probably got drunk, ended up in bed together and woke up unable to look at each other and called in sick." Noelle said as she waited to reach the keys.

"Not McSwarek, they aren't that stupid." Dov said, defending his friend.

"They looked pretty cosy last night with their arms around each other." Anderson told them, waiting for his turn.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What? I saw them in the park down near Hope Hospital. They were walking, it was dark, he had his arms around her and she had her head on his shoulder."

"You guys are talking out of your asses." Oliver said. Loudly.

"It was 3am!"

"And last night, Tommy was stabbed six times in the gut while trying to stop a woman getting raped."

The chatter regarding Andy and Sam's absence stopped abruptly.

"Who's Tommy?" Little asked, breaking the silence.

"Officer McNally's dad." Noelle said, her voice barely above a whisper, not taking her eyes off a sombre Oliver.

"She couldn't get through to Sam so she called me."

* * *

Oliver arrived at the hospital with Butterworth about an hour after the briefing ended.

"Whatever you see in here you keep to yourself." Oliver warned, knowing they could find Andy and Sam in a supportive, yet could be interpreted as a compromising position.

Oliver scanned the ER waiting room for the two of them, but he couldn't see them. He knew that Sam had taken Andy for air when they walked through the park last night, because Oliver had stayed waiting for news.

A nurse and her patient, who was sporting a bloody nose, moved into a cubicle and Sam and Andy came into view.

Sam was sat upright in a chair, head back, drool threatening to make its way down his chin from his mouth, lower arm and hand placed protectively over Andy who was curled up over 3 chairs, using Sam's leg as a pillow.

Oliver chuckled to himself at the absurdity of their constant denial, and their ability to calm each other down when their blood boils.

Tapping Butterworth on the arm, Oliver nodded in their direction and weaved his way towards them.

He drifted the coffee he had brought under Sam's nose, which made his head snap up immediately, his bleary eyes blinking against the light.

Sam used his free hand to wipe his mouth of drool and take the coffee that Oliver offered him.

"Any news?" Oliver asked, his voice quiet so he wouldn't wake Andy.

"I've told them I don't want to wake her unless it's good news. All I've got so far is that there was complications and excessive bleeding. They didn't go into details."

"I went to Andy's place and picked her some clothes up. I also raided your closet and threw some stuff into the bag."

"Cheers, bro. And thanks for the coffee."

"I figured you'd need one. Didn't expect to find either of you sleeping. We better head out, but I'll bring you another coffee drip and breakfast later."

Sam nodded and watched as Oliver and Butterworth left before moving his glaze to watch Andy as she slept.

He watched her deep, even breathing while he drank his coffee, noticing that as she breathed out she let out a small _pfft_ of air, before he tipped his head back and succumbed to sleep once more.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hmph!" Andy grunted as she rolled over in her sleep, falling out of, what she assumed to be her bed and landing on the cold, hard floor.

Sam, having felt Andy stir, managed to catch her so that it was only her legs and bum that she landed on.

"It wasn't a nightmare?" Sam heard her whisper to herself while he helped pick up off her floor.

"I'm sorry Andy, it wasn't a dream."

"How could I fall asleep when he's, where is he?" Andy cried, starting to panic again.

Sam flagged down a nurse and asked for information regarding Tommy McNally's location and status.

He watched as Andy began her nervous pacing up and down the corridor again.

"Miss McNally?"

Andy's head shot around faster than Sam thought possible, to face the doctor that had been updating him at various points during the night.

"How is he?" Andy asked before the doctor could elaborate.

"He's doing ok, he's in intensive care and the next 48 hours are going to be crucial."

"Can I see him?"

"Follow me."

The doctor smiled at Andy, and led her to Tommy's room while Sam followed.

"I'm going to get changed." Sam told Andy as she sat next to Tommy's bed.

"Where did you get clothes from?"

"Oliver dropped us both some off this morning. I would suggest you clean yourself up once you've sat with him for a bit."

Andy looked at him with a questioning look and he opened the bathroom door revealing a mirror. Andy laughed as she took in her dishevelled hair and mascara and tear stained cheeks. She also saw she had blood spots on her clothing.

"How did I get blood on me?"

"Last night. There was this guy with a bloody nose who couldn't stop sneezing."

"Ew!"

"Hence the need to change."

Sam closed the door of the bathroom and changed his clothes.

Andy had taken her dads hand in hers and sat staring at him for a long time, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes again.

She felt a jolt go through her when she felt Sam's hand on her shoulder.

Using her free hand, Andy wiped her eyes and nose clean.

"Did you say there was some clothes for me?"

"In the bag I left in the bathroom."

"Will you?"

"I'll watch him while you change. If anything happens, he'll have me to answer to."

Andy laughed and locked eyes with Sam. They continued to look into each other's eyes until Andy closed the door.

* * *

"I'm sorry. Visiting time has been over for half an hour. You and your boyfriend will have to come back tomorrow." The nurse was trying to reason with Andy.

"But I can't leave him. What if something happens?"

"We'll call you if anything happens."

"I can't leave."

"Andy, we have to go. I'll take you home, you can take a shower, clean up and have a good night's rest and I can bring you back tomorrow."

"I can't leave." Andy stammered.

"You have to let them do their jobs. He's not going anywhere."

"What if he wakes up and I'm not here?"

"Then the nurse will call and I will bring you straight back here. I'm sure your dad will appreciate that you need some rest. And besides, you'll want to look your best when he does wake up."

It took five more minutes of coaxing before Sam and Andy left the hospital.

* * *

"I'm going to make you some food before you pass out." Sam told Andy she headed towards her bathroom.

"I'm fine Sam!" Andy called, standing in the doorway running a brush through her hair, watching him.

"I'm making you something. If I don't you'll probably forget to eat. What do you have in?" Sam told her, opening her cupboard doors.

Andy laughed and went to join him in the kitchenette.

Twenty minutes later, Sam passed Andy a steaming bowl of Pad Thai before picking up his own bowl and taking a seat next to her at the breakfast bar.

"Mmmmmmm. This is good. I didn't even know that you could cook Pad Thai with what I had in. I mean it Sam. This is good."

"Any time." Sam told her with a smile.

A few mouthfuls in and Sam saw Andy pause with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth.

"What's up?"

Sam put his bowl down on the counter and moved closer to Andy, standing as close as he could get to her, tugging on her arm to make her look at him, taking the bowl of food off her and adding it to his own.

"Thank you Sam. For everything." She choked in a half whisper, half cry.

Tears started to roll down her cheek as Sam pulled her into a hug.

He caught her head in his hands and softly wiped away her tears with him thumbs. He leaned in and placed a kiss to her temple.

"I would move mountains for you Andy." He murmured against her skin.

Andy turned to look Sam in the face to question what he had just admitted to her and she found her lips agonisingly close to Sam's which hadn't moved.

"I know." She whispered, placing a soft kiss to the stubble on Sam's jaw.

Before either of them knew or could stop what was happening, their lips met. One of Sam's hands moved from Andy's side, where they had dropped as Andy had moved, to her hair, and he wrapped his fingers in it's silky long length while the other one pulled her closer. Andy's hands migrated from her sides, snaking their way up Sam's chest and wrapping around his neck.

Sam tugged on Andy's hair, causing her to gasp at the sudden, yet pleasurable pain and used it to gain entry to her mouth with his tongue.

Andy tilted her head and moaned as Sam moved his ministrations to her neck, settling on her pulse point and making her go weak in the knees.

Sensing that Andy was struggling to stand, Sam let go of her hair, ran his hands down the sides of her body, making her shiver in the process before cupping her bum and lifting her onto the countertop, sending the two bowls of food crashing to the floor where they shattered, spilling their uneaten contents.

Ignoring it, Sam moved his lips back to Andy's and continued to battle her for dominance with his tongue.

 _Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz_

"I, uh, Sam, my phone's ringing!" Andy stuttered, breaking her mouth from Sam's, panting.

Sam, breathing heavily, pressed his forehead to Andy's as she reached behind her, batted his hands away and ferreted her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.

"Hello? Yes? He is? Yes, I'll be right there."

"Your dad's awake?" Sam asked, his eyebrows raised.

"He is."

Sam looked at Andy and saw conflicting emotions on her face. Knowing it would be hard to do he stepped back from the countertop and Andy.

"Let's go then." He almost growled.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ok guys and girls... I am posting a day early because so many of you asked nicely... and I am going our tomorrow so won't be able to post in my usual Friday night slot and didn't want to leave you all hanging on till Saturday... I know a lot of you won't like me for this but here it is...**

* * *

"Dad?" Andy asked after sticking her head through the door to Tommy's room.

"Hi sweetie."

"You alright? You had me scared."

"Scared enough to scramble through a hedge backwards?"

Andy looked at Tommy, her expression confused.

"Your hair, it's a mess, and I feel like I got stabbed a fair few times."

"I was in bed when I got the call telling me you were awake. I came straight here."

"Of course you were. That's why you look like you haven't slept since graduation." Tommy said with a laugh that turned into a cough.

"I _haven't_ slept."

"Are you going to tell Sam to come in and take a seat or are you going to leave him outside?"

"How did you know Sam's here?" Andy asked him, narrowing her eyes.

"I wasn't a homicide detective for nothing."

Andy grumbled under her breath and went to find Sam, returning a moment later with him.

"Tommy." Sam said nodding at him. "You look better than the last time I saw you."

Tommy wiped his hand over his mouth and looked pointedly at Sam. Andy however, interpreted the look as her dad needing a glass of water and poured him one, while Sam wiped the lip gloss off his mouth and avoided Tommy's gaze.

"Thank you sweetie. Will you do me something?"

"Anything Dad."

"Go home and sleep."

"No. I don't want to leave you."

"Andy, all I'm probably gonna do is sleep. Least you could do is go home and do the same."

"Dad..."

"Andy, go home. I don't think Sammy here will cope with another night in one of those crappy plastic chairs."

"She's not forcing me to stay."

"More importantly, how did you know Sam stayed with me at the hospital last night?"

"Sam, please take her home. Taze her if you have to."

"Alright! I'm going. It's nice to see you awake dad. I'm glad you're ok." Andy said, kissing his forehead and heading to the door.

"Night sweetie. Erm, Sam, a minute."

Sam looked at Andy and she rolled her eyes before waiting for him in the corridor.

"What's going on between you and my daughter?"

"Nothing, Sir."

"I'm not blind Sam, neither is anyone else you work with. And that shade really isn't your colour."

"There's nothing going on between us. Sweet dreams Tommy, and take care of yourself. I'll bring Andy back to see you tomorrow."

* * *

"I'm going to call my brother. There's no way in hell I am going out dressed like this." Anderson complained as he pulled a pair of white jeans up his legs.

"I'd call him then, because I don't know what you've done to piss of McSwarek, but it'll take a call from the top brass to get it sorted." Little warned him.

Anderson pulled out his phone out and pressed 3 on his speed dial.

"Hey Bro!"

"I'm in the middle of something, what do you want?"

"McNally volunteered me for my first undercover op."

"Go Bro."

"It's the annual john sting."

"Will you get to the point?"

"They're forcing me to participate. Please help me!" Anderson hissed as Sam entered the men's changing room.

"You guys have fifteen minutes." Sam announced before leaving again.

* * *

"I can't wait to see this." Sam said as he met Andy at his desk.

"This is going to be fun." Andy admitted.

She was looking forward to seeing Anderson parading around wearing certain items of clothing that would make him feel uncomfortable.

"You two are so lucky. I would kill to see Anderson get knocked down a peg or two." Traci said, handing a bag of popcorn to Andy.

"What are you two doing to my little brother?" Dale Anderson asked, entering the station.

Andy put her hand on Sam's arm.

"Your little brother is a pain in my ass, thinks he knows everything and nearly got me killed."

"So you guys put him on the john sting? Have you actually told him that's he's playing the part of a gay prostitute?"

Sam and Andy looked at each other.

"I'll take that as a no then."

"Are you going to pull the jankers on this?" Andy asked, giving Dale raised eyebrow.

"He figured out you're a legacy yet"

"Nope."

"Hand me the popcorn."

Dale sat on the opposite side of Andy as Sam and helped himself to popcorn.

Anderson walked into the bull pen wearing an outfit similar to what Diaz had worn during his sting.

The entire office wolf whistled at him, including Andy, Sam and Dale, the latter taking a photo with his cell phone.

"Mom and dad are going to love this."

"I bet they'd love it more if I had my way and he was wearing a dress."

"I thought you'd come to get me out of this?" Anderson pouted, stamping his foot on the ground.

"Well from what I've heard there are a couple of lessons that you need to learn and besides, you aren't my type."

"What does that mean?"Anderson asked, eyes flashing between Andy and Dale.

"Tips go into the beer fund" Sam told him, getting up and walking past him into the briefing room with Andy following, snickering.

* * *

Sam and Andy sat in the squad car watching as Anderson struggled to strut his stuff in the park, at the spot that male prostitutes frequented.

"I see you baby, shakin' that ass." Andy giggled down the radio, earning a glare off Anderson, before continuing "I. Like. Big. Butts and I cannot lie."

Sam didn't even so much as smile.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, slightly concerned Sam wasn't even smiling at her humour.

"Nothing."

"And if I bring out my lie detector test?" Andy asked, wiggling both of her eyebrows at him.

"It's just the other night. I think we should talk about it."

"Sam, I..."

"It keeps happening Andy and I think we need to talk about that."

"I don't want to talk Sam. I'm done with the talking thing. We never seem to get anywhere."

* * *

Sam was stood watching Andy from the doorway as she talked to Tracy. He had to admit that she looked good, or maybe it was the fact that she refused to talk to him about that night. The rest of that evening shift had been spent in uncomfortable silence, only speaking to each other when it was work related.

He watched as a guy, about 6 foot tall with sandy blonde hair and an impeccable suit creep up behind Andy and jab his fingers into her sides making her jump a mile. He could hear the scream and see her mouth uttering various profanities as she wiped the coffee off her vest.

Suddenly Andy's hand stopped wiping mid-wipe and she looked up into the man's face before breaking into a smile and flinging her arms around him and receiving a kiss to the cheek.

"Can I replace your coffee?" he asked her.

"Sure."

Sam's heart sank through the floor as Andy lead the mystery man through the door and he was suddenly glad he was riding with Little, not Andy.


	9. Chapter 9

"What was _that_ like?" Andy asked Traci after she had admitted that she and Jerry had talked about getting married.

"It was weird. I mean I've never even thought about getting married, let alone to a womanier like Jerry."

"AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" Andy screamed as two hands dug into her sides by her waist, and coffee splashed all over her.

"What the actual hell? Do you not know?" She started to ask before looking into the deep brown eyes with their amber flecks and stuttering "Dylan?"

"What's up pancake? Spill your drink?"

"You spilt my drink. What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story that leads me to asking you a favour."

"Ask away, doesn't mean I'm going to do it."

"Can I replace your coffee?"

"Sure."

Andy sat her spilled coffee on the desk and led Dylan out the door and to the coffee shop. Once they had placed their orders and sat at a table, Dylan looked at Andy.

"So how've you been?"

"I've been good. Really good."

"Andy, I know you well enough to know you are forcing that brightness. It's the same tone and face you used when we went to see Motorhead."

"Guy trouble, but we aren't here to talk about me. What's this favour?"

"I need a place to crash."

"What happened to Elaine?"

"Eleana."

"Whatever. Well?"

"I caught her in bed with someone else."

Andy snorted into her coffee.

"You think it's funny?"

"No. I just know how that one feels."

"The guy trouble?"

"No. Ex fiancée trouble. Guy trouble is something else."

"Please can I stay until I get something sorted out?"

"I thought you were living in the mountains?"

"I requested a transfer back to the city. Please, Andy I'm desperate."

"Alright. You can stay at mine. On the condition that you pull your weight and look for a place of your own."

"Thank you. Did I ever tell you I adore you?"

"Not for a few years. How's your mom?"

"Still not talking to yours."

"Well neither am I so it's all good!"

Dylan laughed at Andy's comment and Andy fished her keys out of her pocket.

"There's a rather intense looking guy in a police uniform coming over here."

Andy looked up to see Sam striding over to the table.

"Time to go McNally." He grunted, eying up Dylan from a little closer.

"Sam, this is Dylan, Dylan, this is my partner Sam."

"Nice to meet you Sam." Dylan said brightly, extending his hand out to Sam, who simply turned around and stomped his way back to the door.

"I better go."

"He usually like that?"

"Yeah."

* * *

A few days passed and Sam continued to be frosty towards Andy. He didn't want to say something he might later regret, and as much as he wanted to be the one to put a smile on her face, his biggest priority was to make her happy. With or without him. He would continue to stand by her side and have her back, but he was thrown right back into the feeling that tormented him when she was with Callaghan.

He saw Dylan arrive at the barn just before they finished their shifts and he could hear that whatever he was saying to Andy, she was not impressed. That's when he noticed how tired she looked and his blood boiled. If Dylan wasn't treating her right, he would have to have words.

"And who's that captivating McNally's attention?" Oliver asked, having sneaked up behind him and breaking the daze Sam was in.

"I have no idea. They seem friendly though."

"Know his name?" Oliver prodded, wanting to see how much research Sam had done on this new man in Andy's life.

"Dylan."

"Dylan?" Oliver asked, narrowing his eyes at the tall man as Sam nodded his confirmation. "No Way!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"What?" Sam asked.

Oliver waved him off and walked towards Andy and Dylan with his arms outspread.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Dylan the Diva?"

Dylan's head snapped from looking at Andy to looking at Oliver, a look of embarrassed recognition on his face.

"Wally Ollie, Oodle all the day!" He called back, embracing Oliver like an old friend while Andy smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Sammy! Get your ass over here!" Oliver called, turning to find Sam had left.

* * *

Oliver found Sam nursing a scotch at the Penny later that night.

"He's her cousin on her mom's side. When her mom left, Tommy didn't think it was fair for Andy to lose her entire family, so he stayed in touch with his sister in law so Andy would still have her best friend. Apparently they were inseparable as kids."

"So how do you know him?"

"Me and Tommy had to get him out of trouble a few times when he was a teen. That's before he grew up and did law at college."

"Hmph."

"Sam, you need to talk to her."

Sam knocked his scotch back, stood up and headed for the door without another word.

* * *

"Andy! What happened?" Oliver asked as he saw her limp into the barn the following morning, causing Sam to turn around and investigate.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She replied.

"Say that with a straighter face and I might believe you."

"I'm going to go and get changed." Andy announced and hobbled down the corridor to the locker room.

Sam looked at Oliver and headed after her. He made sure she was alone before stepping into the tiled room and over to her locker.

He made it as she was buttoning her shirt up.

"McNally. What happened?"

"I fell over. It's no big deal."

"You fell over? And if you can't walk then you can't work."

Andy closed her locker and stood up, squaring her body to Sam's.

"I am fine. I just need to walk it off." She told him, not moving her eyes from his.

"You fell over?" Sam laughed, his eyes full of concern.

"Sam." Andy warned.

"I would recommend that you ask Frank to go on desk duty for the day."

"I'm fine. It's not even swollen"

"Andy." He breathed, studying her face for signs that she was lying.

"I'm fine so stop worrying! We're going to be late to parade." Andy told him, smacking him lightly on the side of the face and making her way slowly to parade.

* * *

Andy and Anderson we on their first call out of the day. The call was to a theft in progress at a store and even though her ankle was killing her, she refused to let Anderson drive. He had to earn it.

They arrived at the scene and the cashier indicated that the suspect was in aisle 7 so Andy indicated that Anderson should sneak around to the other side of the aisle and she would remain on the side they were on.

Once Andy saw that Anderson was in position, she cleared her throat.

"You do know stealing is a crime don't you?" she asked as the suspect put a DVD down his pants.

He looked at Andy startled before turning and running in the opposite direction towards Anderson. Once he saw Anderson, the suspect decided that Andy would be easier to take and turned around again and shoved the rack of DVD's into Andy who was forced to the floor. She scrambled back to her feet and chased after Anderson and the suspect, despite the burning sensation now spreading up her leg.

Andy caught up to them as Anderson was reading the suspect his rights and between them they manhandled him into the back of the car.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this is posted a little later than my usual time slot, but it is still Friday and I have just spent the last few hours sat in A + E with my little brother. Next update might not take so long as I try not to think about it...**

 **... and thank you all adorable reviewers... over 100 in 8 chapters! It's definitely a PB for me!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Annonymous reviewer. Can I just say thank you for the highly personal attack on me when I posted my last chapter. It was very welcome (NOT!) on one of the worst nights of my life.**

 **People keep telling me you are jealous - but I have another theory. You are a bully, and one of the worst kinds of bully because you do not know your victim.**

 **Last Friday night (and I have his permission to post this) my 22 year old brother took an overdose and ended up in A + E. We had no idea if there would be any serious side effects. Wednesday he tried to jump off a bridge onto a motorway and has now been detained under section 136 of the mental health act and isn't likely to come home for some time.**

 **Also - my daddy issues, which I am well aware of btw, stem from my mother walking out on me and my 2 brothers when I was 14. Not long after my dad met a wonderful woman which didn't last and then he met someone who threatened to rearrange my face, push me in front of a bus and tried to get me arrested on a story she made up...**

 **There is loads more, but now isn't the time or place - I find writing theraputic and posting a fic takes a hell of a lot of balls, so even if they aren't perfect you should be encouraging people to post rather than bullying them.**

* * *

Back at the barn, Andy let Anderson book their suspect in and headed back to the changing room where she collapsed onto a bench, rubbing her eyes to stem the flow of tears that threatened to engulf her as her ankle was made worse when she was knocked to the ground.

She felt something touch her shoulder and instantly knew it was Sam. Glancing up at him she expected the 'I told you so', but it never came. Instead, he handed her a bottle of water and some paracetamol.

"You ready to tell me what you did now?"

"Dylan. He was doing something he shouldn't have been and we ended up play fighting until I fell down the step to my kitchen. Like I said, it was nothing."

"You should get it checked out."

"It's nothing. I just got my ass beat by a DVD rack. It'll be fine."

"McNally..." Sam almost moaned at her stubbornness.

Andy put her head on his shoulder. They heard the door go, but they didn't care. Their friends knew that Andy and Sam's partnership often had them in each other's locker rooms.

"Sam, You know I wouldn't usually say anything, but do you think you could... I don't know, leave? I want to get changed!" Noelle's voice pierced the silence in the room.

Sam shrugged Andy off his shoulder and went back to work.

"You ok?" Noelle asked Andy, looking her over and trying to find what was wrong.

"I'm fine. Just flared up an old injury when I took a fall."

"Tell Frank. He'll keep you in the rest of the day."

"I just need to walk it off."

* * *

"Andy, come on. It's been three weeks and you still can't walk properly." Sam tried to reason.

"I'm fine. It's a sprain. I used to do it all the time as a kid." Andy protested.

"I'm with Swarek on this one. That's why I have made you an appointment with the department Physical Therapist tonight." Frank told her.

"You told him to didn't you?" Andy asked Sam.

"No. It was all Frank's idea."

"And my decision is final McNally."

Andy stormed from the room. She felt fine. There was no reason for Frank to keep her on a desk. There was definitely no reason for her to visit the Physical Therapist. Especially not tonight of all nights.

Dylan was back in the mountains sorting out his divorce and had agreed to sleep on her dads sofa to keep him company on his recovery when he got back, which meant Andy had no one else to pick her dad up from the hospital. She would have to talk to Sam and get him to cancel the appointment.

She sat at the desk, trying to find the best time to talk to Sam, but he didn't return to the barn.

That is, until Andy heard over the radio a suspect had pushed him into a mud pit.

She saw him squelch through the bull pen, covered head to toe in mud, everyone clapping at him for getting into that state. She saw him enter the mens locker room and waited.

"Hey, Trace? Can you cover for me? I need to talk to Sam."

"He's gone for a shower."

"I need to talk to him somewhere he can't dodge me."

"Andy..."

Andy got out of her chair and directed her feet towards the mens locker room, opening the door and getting used to the smell before she stepped into it and straight for the showers.

"SAM!" She shouted as she reached the first shower.

"I'm in the shower McNally! What do you want?"

Andy headed to the only shower that was in use and stood outside it.

"I can't go to Physical Therapy."

"You're going. Even if I have to take you there and handcuff you to a railing."

"You could have consulted me before booking the appointment."

"Why, you got a hot date I don't know about?"

"Actually, I do."

Sam pulled the curtain of the shower back enough so that he could see her, but not so far back that she wouldn't see something she hadn't already seen before.

"My dad's finally getting out of the hospital tonight. I can't just leave him. He's been in there four weeks already."

"Can't Dylan go?" Sam asked, pulling the curtain closed again and resuming his shower.

"Dylan has gone back home to finalise his divorce and pack up his life. There's only me. Please? I'm not saying I won't go at all, just not tonight."

"You have to go tonight. There aren't any more appointments for a month."

"Sam, I can't leave my Dad."

"Andy, do you know how many strings Frank and I had to pull to get you this appointment? You need that ankle checking out. It was either that or I was gonna handcuff you and toss you into my truck and drive you to the ER."

"You really want to handcuff me don't you?"

Sam pulled the curtain back again.

"It's only fair. You handcuffed me and you didn't even know me then."

"I'm being serious Sam."

"So am I. If you don't go tonight, we won't be able to get you back in for a while. Towel."

Andy handed Sam the towel that was hanging up behind her and he dropped the curtain to wrap it around his waist, before pulling it back and stepping out of the cubicle.

"I tell you what. I'll drop you off at the Physical Therapist and then I will go and pick your Dad up."

"You'll do that?"

"If it'll make you go to this appointment."

"Thanks Sam." Andy said, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.

"Anytime. Now can I get dressed?"

"Oh! Yeah. Sure!" Andy said as she waltzed from the room and back to the desk.

"You seem cheerful."

"Sam's gonna pick my Dad up so I can go to this damn appointment he and Frank have made for me."

"I take it that was the urgent matter you needed to discuss with him in the _shower_?"

"Yeah."

"This is why people talk about you, you know. You and Sam have no boundaries with each other."

"We have boundaries."

"Yeah. I know. He's still in your freezer."

Neither Sam or Andy realised they had been watched in the shower and neither of them could anticipate what would happen next.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I know I know... it's late... but I have a really good excuse!**

 **I've been baking and decorating my friends birthday cake (means some really late nights this week fitting it in around work) - if you want to see it see my twitter MakalaJefferies - and I went to see my brother tonight. He's been moved to a loony bin over an hours drive from us. Other than that he's doing ok and has improved so much over the last week!**

 **Thank you all for your messages of support! I really appreciated them. I was reading some of them out to my dad and he was trying not to cry!**

 **Anyway... to repay you all for your support, and to say sorry it's so late being posted... here's what you've been waiting for (even though I think I may have written myself into a corner - any help to get out would be greatly appreciated!)**

* * *

"Ok, so Dylan will be back in a couple of hours and will be going straight to my Dad's. I'll finish up here and jump in a cab." Andy told Sam as he pulled up outside the Physical Therapy centre.

"I know McNally."

"Let him know I'll call him when I'm out."

"I will do. Now get outta my goddamn truck." He replied with a grin.

Andy flashed him a smile, happy that someone was picking her dad up and got out of his truck. As she headed to the door, her cell phone rang. Checking to see who it was, she answered.

"Hey Frank. Sam just dropped me at the centre."

"Andy. I'm glad to hear you're doing as you're told for a change, but that's not why I'm calling."

"What's up Frank?"

"I don't really want to do this over the phone, but it's all happened so fast, I have no other choice."

"Frank, you're scaring me."

"There has been a report made to the chief superintendant regarding your relationship with Sam."

"I don't have a relationship with Sam. Who made the report?"

"I know you don't. In fact the whole station knows you don't, but they mentioned some inappropriate behaviour in the men's locker room. I don't know who filed the report, but tomorrow morning you will report to Sergeant Lowson over at 27."

"Frank. I can't leave 15. My entire family is there."

"I know Andy. It was either you or Sam and I stand a better chance of getting you back than him. Go to your appointment and we'll meet for coffee soon."

Frank hung up the phone and left Andy feeling very confused as she entered reception for her appointment.

* * *

"Sam! I wasn't expecting you. Where's Andy?"

"She took a knock so Frank sent her to Physical Therapy. I told her I'd pick you up and take you home." Sam told him, picking up Tommy's bag and leading the way to his truck.

"Good. It means you and I can have a talk."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Really Sam? I know you and I know her. I also know something happened between the two of you."

Sam wouldn't look Tommy in the eye and neither of them spoke until they were both in the truck and Sam had turned the key.

"What happened that night Sam? I know it was her lipstick all over your face."

They were half way to Tommy's apartment before Sam answered him.

"It was nothing." Sam told him, his voice cracking slightly.

"Have you talked about it?"

"Andy told me that she didn't want to talk. That she was done talking."

"Sam. I mean no offense by this, but you are an idiot."

"Why? She said she didn't want to talk about the kiss, and that's all it was, so I have given her space."

"Tell you what. Tell me exactly how you feel about my daughter and I might just tell you why you're an idiot."

Again, Sam refused to speak. It wasn't until he pulled up outside Tommy's building that he finally admitted:

"She's been on my mind since she tackled me on her first day. I can't stop thinking about her and the thought of her getting hurt and not being able to stop it from happening, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. The other week when I saw her with a gun to her head, I thought my heart was going to stop beating."

"Do you feel better for that?" Tommy asked, a little shocked – he was simply expecting Sam to admit he had a 'thing' for Andy, but he was now sitting wringing the steering wheel in his hands.

"Sam. You are an idiot because you don't even realise you're a man in love. When Andy said she was done talking, what she really wanted was a continuation of what you started and not to talk about it."

"And how do you know that, I mean, I know you're her dad, but I wouldn't talk about something like that with my parents."

"It was just after Dylan arrived. He was badgering her about her guy problems. It sounded like a conversation she needed to have and not with me, so I pretended I was still asleep."

"So what do I do?"

"Help me up the stairs with that bag, and I can't believe I am saying this to you, but go talk to her and make her listen. But listen to me before you do. She is my baby girl and if you hurt her, your life will not be worth living. Understand?"

"I understand. I have no intention of hurting her. Thanks Tommy."

* * *

Andy was sat in shock. There were tears falling from her eyes and she didn't care.

 _Transferred._

She couldn't believe any of their friends would report her and Sam's friendship to the white shirts. There was nothing inappropriate about their relationship, except the continual sexual tension, spending more time in each others' locker rooms than their own and Andy's conversation with Sam in the shower.

Andy thought that this always made them a better team. If they were that comfortable with each other there was no need for secrets.

There was a knock on her door. Andy chose to ignore it, knowing it was Sam. The only light that was on was the hall lamp which was on a timer. She was too stunned when she got in to turn any more on.

The knock came again and Andy slowly got up to answer it. She didn't want to tell Sam, but he needed to know why she wouldn't be there tomorrow.

She opened the door and Sam was stood there, the light making him glow a little.

"Is everything ok with my Dad?"

"Yeah, but I just needed to say something to you."

"What is it?"

Sam walked through the door and pushed Andy into the wall, pinning her mouth to his with one hand and closing the door with the other.

"Sam, I" Andy said, pushing him away from her enough to form the two words.

"Andy, I'm done waiting for you to realise I have feelings for you and I am also done talking."

He kissed her again, harder this time, grazing his teeth along her bottom lip, coaxing her mouth open. She parted her lips and granted him access, her transfer worries pushed to the back of her mind as she groped for the zip on Sam's leather jacket. Pulling it down, she pushed it off his shoulders while simultaneously pushing herself off the wall. Lips still glued together, she led him to her bedroom. They were standing at the foot of the bed and Sam was down to his boxers and Andy was down to her bra and pants.

"Are you sure? There's no going back from this."

"I've been waiting for you to realise I have feelings for you too. I don't want to go back."

As if to cement her words in the air, Andy placed her lips on Sam's and took hold of his hands. She placed them on her bare hips and guided them up her body before letting go and wrapping her own around his neck.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam woke with a start. He patted the bed next to him and found that it was empty.

He wondered if it had all been a dream, but then he realised he wasn't in his own bed and he was naked. He saw a dim light through the bedroom door. Instinctively he knew something was wrong so he quickly hunted down his boxers and shoved his legs in them before padding out into the open plan living space.

"Andy?" he called softly before finding her, wrapped in a sheet, gazing out of the window.

That's when he saw that she was crying.

"Andy? What's wrong?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her and wiping the tears away.

He could see her struggling to form words so he took her hand and led her over to the couch.

"The therapist didn't hurt you did they? I didn't hurt you?"

Andy shook her head, laughing at Sam's concern.

"No. They confirmed what I've been telling you all for weeks. It's a sprain. It'll be fine."

"So what's wrong?"

"Ivebeentransferred." She said it so fast that Sam struggled to catch what she had said.

"Andy, wait, did you just say that you've been transferred?"

She nodded her confirmation.

"Frank called just after you dropped me off. He said a report has been made to the Superintendant that our professional relationship is inappropriate. Frank chose me over you because he said I'd be easier to steal back."

"Son of a bitch!"

"It wasn't Franks fault. His hands were tied. Someone in our own division, in our _family_ reported us to the white shirts. Who do we know with that kind of power?"

"Gail?"

"Gail wouldn't do that. One, it's too obvious and the timing's off. She's had years to report us. Two, with the dirt we've accumulated on her, she wouldn't dare in fear of retaliation."

"You rubbed up anyone the wrong way recently?"

"Anderson. He seems to be bitter enough towards me after the hazing stunts we've pulled, and I know he's a legacy, but does he have the connections?"

"Possibly."

They both sat on the sofa, staring into space, not talking until Andy broke the silence.

"What do I do? 15 is my home. My family. How can I go an entire shift without seeing your ugly mug?"

"Hey! Play nice! We'll figure it out. I promise. You'll be back at 15 before you know it. Now I think it's time for bed."

"Alright, but will you do something for me?"Andy asked, allowing Sam to pull her to her feet using the sheet.

"What?"

"Will you clean out my locker and bring it over?"

"I'll clean out your locker and keep it all in mine for your return."

Sam stopped in the doorway and pulled Andy closer to him, before capturing her lips once more in his.

"Sam, I have to be up early tomorrow. I've got a hell of a lot further to travel than normal."

"I'll drop you." Sam told her, his dimples popping as he smiled at her and walked her back into her bedroom.

* * *

"When I ask for quiet, I want QUIET!" Frank yelled at the unusually rowdy group of police officers before him.

Slowly everyone stopped their conversations and turned to look at Frank.

"Your pairings, as usual are on the board. Go out there and serve, protect and don't even think of pissing me off. Swarek, I want you in my office. Peck, Diaz, Williams, Shaw, Epstien, Nash. I want you to all wait behind for a minute."

"This sounds serious." Oliver muttered to Noelle as Sam stormed out of the room, pushing the door open so hard it rebounded off the wall with a crash.

"Take a seat."

"Frank? What's going on? Where's McNally?"" Noelle asked, figuring that Sam's mood and her absence were connected.

"A report was made to the Chief Superintendant yesterday saying that Sam and Andy's professional relationship it too inappropriate. I was forced to transfer one of them."

"WHAT?"

"WHO THE HELL?"

"WHY ANDY?"

The officers in the room all started shouting at once until Frank held his hands up to stop them.

"I do not know who made this report, but whoever it is has connections."

They all looked at Gail.

"It wasn't me. We all know that McSwarek's relationship is inappropriate at the best of times, but I'm not dumb enough to report it."

"I transferred McNally because if I chose Sam we'd never get him back. He's too well known and I have to block transfer requests on a daily basis just to keep him here."

"We need to figure out who did this and then we can try and get her back."

"I need to go and tell Sam the not-so-good news."

"This is when I don't envy his job." Oliver said, shaking his head.

"What makes you think he doesn't already know?" Noelle asked.

* * *

"Sam, take a seat." Frank said, indicating Sam should stop pacing and take the seat in front of him.

"Save your breath Frank, I already know."

"You do?"

"Who do you think she called?"

"So do you know what inappropriate behaviour has been cited?"

"I am going to guess that someone reported her talking to me in the men's showers was the most recent."

"What even possessed you to talk to her in the shower?"

"She cornered me. It's not like I wasn't behind a curtain. That's not the point here."

"It kind of is the point Sam. If I manange"

"When. Not _if_ , when."

" _If_ I manage to get her back, how am I supposed to stop this from happening again?"

Sam simply glared at Frank. He knew the sergeant was right. He also knew asking for a set of rules for them was out of the question. They were already in place and neither he nor Andy followed them anyway.

"I'm going to find out who did this Frank."

"I'm counting on it."

There was a knock on the door.

Frank and Sam looked through the glass and saw Little waiting for them.

"We're in a meeting." Frank told him.

"I know that, Sir, but there is someone here to see Officer McNally. When I said she wasn't here he asked to see Officer Swarek. I told him that you were in a meeting and he said he'd wait. That was half an hour ago. He's still here."

"Did you get a name?"

"Tim? Tom? Something like that."

"Tommy?" Sam asked

"Yeah. That's it. Tommy."

Sam let out a loud breath and got up from the chair he was occupying.

"I'll bet she forgot to call him." He told Frank as he headed out of the door.

Sam meandered his way between the desks and towards the front desk.

"Sammy! This young whippersnapper won't let me back there!" Tommy called when he saw Sam. "And where the hell is Andy?"

"Let him through Little."

Sam led Tommy to a vacant interview room and suggested he take a seat.

"Where's Andy?" Tommy repeated.

"I went round last night to talk to her like you suggested and she dropped a bombshell on me."

"Sam?"

"She was transferred. Seems there is someone in this station that has issues with our professional relationship."

"Jesus Sam! What did you two do? Get it on on Frank's desk?"

"That's not funny."

"Well?"

"We were being us and someone complained about it."

"When she asked you to pick me up?"

"I was in the shower."

"That would do it."

"That's not the point. The point is how do we get her back?"


	13. Chapter 13

"Officers of 27 Division! May I introduce our newest recruit: Officer Andrea McNally."

Some of Andy's new team members wolf whistled while other hooted and catcalled at her.

"Today you will be paired with Todd. Officer Todd, she's all yours! Now let's get out there!"

Chairs scraped against the floor as the officers all got up to start their respective assignments.

Andy waited for the room to clear so she could get to her new partner.

"So you and I need to have the talk." Todd told her, nodding his head as an indication that she needs to follow.

"I've already had the talk."

"Not by me you haven't so listen up. You do not do anything, say anything or think anything until I tell you and even then you will write, think and say what I want you to. You will back me up always. Things are going to get scary out there, but I will not be holding your hand."

"So nothing I haven't heard before." Andy told him, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"What did I just tell you? You know what. I can see I am going to have a problem with you so why don't you go and do something useful sweetheart and make me a coffee?"

Andy scoffed and made her way over to the coffee machine. She slowly pulled the cup and poured the jet black liquid into it. She grabbed three packets of sugar and dumped them into the cup, not caring if Todd took sugar or not.

She carried it carefully out to the car. She was five paces away from him when she clipped a loose rock and fell forward, the steaming cup falling from her grasp and the hot dark liquid covering Todd.

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" he yelled at Andy while wiping the front of his vest.

Andy simply glared at him and turned to head back into the building.

"Damned Rookies. Can't get anything right." She heard him mutter behind her.

"I hope Frank get's this sorted soon." She thought as she poured him another cup of coffee.

* * *

"So we need to figure out who ratted out McSwarek before we can do anything."

Sam, Chris, Gail and Dov were investigating who had told the white shirts about Sam and Andy's professional relationship.

"The obvious answer is Peck."

"How many times do I need to tell you guys? I. AM. NOT. STUPID."

"I think we could rule Peck out."

"Thankyou."

"What about Anderson? He's seriously pissed with her for hazing him." Chris suggested.

"He's got the right connections." Gail admitted.

"I don't think its Anderson. He's a legacy, but he knows she holds power over him. He doesn't know why." Sam informed them.

"Guys, I think you better see this." Dov said from the computer.

They all crowded around the computer to see what Dov had found and stood in shock.

"Damn it. I should have known." Sam cursed, mentally kicking himself.

They were watching a video of the entrance to the men's locker room. They saw a muddy Sam trudge in followed by a male and then Andy.

"Son of a bitch!"

"I told you I didn't do it."

Sam could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket and ferreted around to get it out.

When he eventually found it, he left the others in the room debating what do next, to answer the phone in the hallway.

"Hey you."

"Right back at ya! So 15 missing me yet?"

"More than you could realise McNally. We might be making some headway here."

"Really?"

"Yes, but that isn't why you're calling me is it?"

"Yes, no, sort of."

"And in English sometime today Andy?"

"I want to know how things are going on your end, but I miss you."

"I know. I miss you too. This'll all be over soon and you'll be back with us at 15."

Sam could hear her breathing hitch and a muffled voice on the end of the phone.

"That didn't sound good."

"Sam, you have no idea. I have to go otherwise I might get grounded."

"New partner treating you like a child?"

"Yeah."

"You tackle him to the ground while he was undercover?"

"Very funny. I spilled his coffee all over him. I have to go."

"See you later?"

"Bet your ass!"

"MCNALLY!"

"I'll stop by your place after my shift." Sam promised before Andy hung up the phone.

"You look happy. Who was that?" Gail asked, creeping up behind him.

"No one."

"Your phone rang all by itself?"

"That it did Peck. What do you want?"

"We're sinking in there. What the hell do we do?"

"We find the connection and then abuse yours."

* * *

"Who were you talking to?" Todd asked Andy.

"That is none of your damn business." She snapped at him, wrenching the squad car door open and throwing her body into the passenger seat.

"You need to watch your tone there young Lady."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll find some way you can make it up to me."

Andy rolled her eyes and stared out of the window as Todd fired up the engine. Andy was counting down the time until her shift was over.

She could see Todd looking at her out of the corner of his eye and vowed that if he touched her, she would make him regret it.

He drove the two of them around the streets mindlessly looking out for trouble before their radio crackled to live.

"10-19 we have a disturbance at 13 Meadow Drive."

"10-19, show us attending."

Andy flipped the switch to turn on the siren and Todd stepped his foot on the gas. She was out of the car before Todd had even stopped it. There were screams punctuating the air.

"What the hell are you doing McNally? I didn't tell you to get out of the car!"

"I'm doing my job. If you don't like it you don't have to follow me, but you are also my partner so you also have to watch my back as much as I watch yours."

"Get your ass back here."

"Nope! I'm going in. The longer we wait the less chance we have of getting to that woman in a conscious condition."

"Fine, but I'm going in first."

* * *

 **A/N: I do apologise that this is being posted on a Saturday rather than Friday... I would have posted it Thursday but I went to see my brother instead of going last night because I went out on a sort of date (It's a complicated story)**

 **I promise I will make it up to you all!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Ok... so here is my apology to you all for not posting Friday and making you wait! Until Friday!**

* * *

There was a soft knocking on Andy's door. She wrapped the towel closer around her body and went to answer it.

She was surprised to find Gail and Tracy on the other side.

"Hey, hey guys!" she stuttered, looking down the corridor and stepping back to let them in "What'ya doing here?"

"Came to see how your first day went." Tracy told her.

"And to get drunk" Gail said as she staggered a step towards the sofa, holding up a bottle of tequila.

"Guys, I'm beat. Can't we do this another time?"

Andy ran a second towel through her hair drying it.

"Nope! We are going to drink until you pass out."

"I have three busses to get in the morning."

"You need to get yourself a car." Tracy told her, handing her a shot glass.

"It's not too bad."

"Andy, you have just said that you need to take three busses to get there on a morning."

"I'll be back at 15 soon and then I won't need one."

Gail and Tracy looked at Andy and saw she was looking slightly nervous. She was shifting her weight from one foot to the other and her eyes were darting between them and the door.

"You expecting someone?" Tracy asked, arching her eyebrow sceptically.

"No."

"Bullshit!" Gail coughed before downing her shot.

"Alright. Sam said he might stop by, see how I did on my second first day."

There was another knock on Andy's door.

"Will one of you get that while I put some clothes on?"

Tracy saw Gail sway slightly and went to answer Andy's door.

"Hi Sam!" she said as she looked at his horrified face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Gail and I are here for the same reason you are. To see how Miss Andy's day went at 27."

"Fair enough. Are you going to let me in?"

"What? Oh yeah. Come on in. Andy's just putting some clothes on."

"You were getting naked?" Sam asked, a little puzzled.

"No. I'd just got out of the shower when these two got here."

"Rigggghhhht! With you now."

"We were actually discussing Andy's lack of car." Gail said as she dropped onto the sofa.

"I thought you would be smooth talking someone into obtaining the information we need?"

"Not tonight. Tonight I need Tequila!"

"I am not driving you to work tomorrow." Tracey warned her.

"So how was your day?" Sam asked Andy, picking up his phone and tapping the screen repeatedly.

"Well, they don't know I'm a Legacy, they think I am still a rookie and I spilled coffee all over my TO who keeps checking me out when he thinks I don't notice. I also saved his ass when some idiot sneaked up on him and put a gun to his head."

"He give you the lecture?" Tracy asked her

"Yeah. Oliver's was better."

"Sounds like you had a pretty boring day." Sam pointed out.

"Boring?" Gail scoffed.

"By the way our day usually pans out; mine was pretty boring in comparison." Andy told her.

"Ruin any undercover operations?"

"Very funny. I did arrest a man pretending to be a nun though."

"Pass the tequila!"

"Gail, you are not staying here tonight."

Gail poured herself another shot and handed the bottle to Andy, who passed it straight on to Tracy. Tracey poured herself and Andy a shot and handed the bottle to Sam. He put the bottle on the counter and went to get a glass and Andy's Scotch. Knowing it was likely to be a long night, he routed around in her freezer for some ice, his hand brushing a jar he had seen before.

"Guys, come on. I have an early morning."

"I'm sure Sam will take you to work tomorrow."

"No Sam won't take her to work tomorrow. I have somewhere to be in the morning." Sam argued, entering the room again.

"I'll take you! I want to hear about your day!"

"You've heard about it. It was quiet, boring even. I didn't even get shot at!"

"Then I want to drink!" Traci said, raising her glass and tossing the contents into her mouth.

"Guys come on. Can't we do this another day?"

"You got a hot date tonight?" Gail asked.

"No. I just want to chill out and have an early night."

Traci glanced at Sam, who was leaned at the bar and was being unusually quiet. She headed out of the door and straight to the kitchen.

Sam glanced at her as she passed and waited until she shut the door before looking to see Gail passed out on the sofa before moving swiftly over to Andy and placing his lips on hers.

"I better go." He whispered before heading to the door.

"I want you to stay. You know that right?"

"I know, but I don't think it's a good idea."

He kissed her again.

Tracy reached the kitchen and opened the freezer, looking for the jar with Sam's name in it. She smirked when she saw it had been removed and returned to the living room.

Andy was closing the door. Sam had clearly just left.

"Where'd he go?"

"Home?"

"What's going on with the two of you?"

"Nothing."

"Come on Andy, he looked pissed off and you've been trying to get rid of us all night. Not to mention he's no longer in your freezer"

"I. Am. Tired Trace and I just want to go to bed. and it got lost when I moved." Andy told her, trying to cover up the fact the jar was missing.

"That your story?"

"It's not a story. Breaking in a new TO is exhausting."

"Uh huh!"

"Please will you just get Gail and go?"

"Like I'm going to be able to haul her unconscious ass down two flights of stairs."

"Do what you want. I'm going to bed."

Andy padded down the hall to her room, swiping her phone from the side as she went.

She flipped it open and set the ring tone to vibrate. She reached her room and shut the door before flopping down on her bed. She opened the text message she had received.

 _'They aren't leaving any time soon. Text me when you're alone.'_

Smiling, Andy pressed the reply icon.

 _'Not quite alone. They're still here, but I'm in my room. Wish you were here.'_

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

 _'I wish I was there too. You ok?'_

Andy smiled at Sam's overprotective nature.

' _I'm fine. It's just been a long day.'_

She dropped her phone on her chest and put her hands over her head until her phone buzzed again.

 _'Dinner tomorrow if you aren't so wiped?'_

 _'Sounds good. After work?'_

 _'I'll pick you up.'_

 _'I finish at 6.'_

 _'I'll be there. My bed's cold.'_

 _'So is mine! I need to sleep. Night Sam!'_

 _'Night Andy.'_

Andy dropped her phone back on her chest and was asleep before she could climb under the covers.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I am sorry this is such a short chapter - I took my 2 year old nephew to the Zoo today and ran around it after him! It was a good day, but I am falling asleep while writing. I'll post more later if I get the chance to!**

* * *

"Well good morning sunshine!" Todd catcalled at Andy as she trudged through to the briefing room.

"Bite Me." She grumbled under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"I said, it's a bright day."

"That's what I thought. You going to keep out of trouble today?"

"I wasn't in trouble yesterday."

"Not in trouble? You didn't listen to a word I said all day."

"And yet I still had your back. If I did what you told me to you would be dead right now."

"Alright! Settle down!"

The room fell silent.

"As you are aware, it's the annual tactical retraining next week. This will give me an opportunity to assess your partnerships and determine if you are paired with the right people."

"Which division are we going to be retraining with?" Todd asked.

"15."

There was a collective groan. The annual tactical retraining was more like a competition between the two divisions. The losers had to buy the winners a steak dinner.

"They have that partnership, whats their name? You know the one I mean. Swarek and his rookie. How is this even fair?"

"Didn't you hear? That partnership went to the dogs. Chief Inspectors Nephew caught them doing something strange in the showers and complained to him about it. Said the rookie was transferred that night."

This piece of information caught Andy's attention. The Chief Inspector's Nephew.

Everything started to make sense. The Chief Inspector, while being openly gay, was still a stickler for rules, even going as far as punishing officers for things that were frowned upon rather than against the rules. It also explains her swift transfer.

Andy racked her brains to try and figure out who it could be, but she knew Andersons family and knew they weren't nearly that powerful.

"Earth to Andy?" Todd laughed, waving a hand in front of her face. She had been in a world of her own and hadn't realised the briefing was over.

"What?"

"We have to go."

"I have to pay a call first."

Andy ran to the bathroom and pulled her phone out of her vest.

"Andy?"

"Yeah. Listen I don't have long. I know who ratted us out."

"So do we. We're just trying to find the connection."

"It's the Chief Inspector's Nephew. We need to find out who that is."

"So that's where the connection lies."

"Sam?"

"It's Little. He was in the locker room when I was in the shower and you accosted me."

"Little? Why would he do this?"

"I'm not sure, but we should play it low key and let him stew. Now that we know which brass we're dealing with we can get Peck onto it."

"We're against 15 in the annual tactical retraining."

"Perfect!" Sam told her, snorting.

"I have to go. Mr I have a stick up my ass and it hurts in a pleasant way will be coming to find me."

"I'll see you at six."

"I really can't wait."

* * *

"So you want me to persuade the Chief of Police to transfer Andy back here?" Gail asked Sam, waving a phone around in front of her.

They were alone in the briefing room, trying to think of the plan to get Andy back.

"That sums it up." Sam confirmed.

"He's going to want some sort of proof that it's worth it."

"And we can prove it to him."

"How?"

"ATR"

"You are insane. They never let two divisions merge on that."

"If we don't do it now, we might not get another chance."

"Fine. I'll call him. Just so you don't get all mopey eyed again."

Sam arched his eyebrows and stared at Gail as she dialled the number for her God Father.

"It's just ringing and ringing. I don't think he's going to... Hi! It's me, Gail."

Sam couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, as Oliver had wondered in and perched next to Sam.

"Hey, erm, Sammy?"

"What?"

"Now that you and McNally are in separate divisions, you might want to reconsider a couple of things."

"Like what exactly?"

Sams voice was cool and calm, sending shivers up Oliver's spine. He knew the tone well and knew that the tone was the quiet before the storm.

"Well, you and McNally."

"It's a go!" Gail called from the other side of the room. She snapped her phone shut and walked back to Sam and Oliver. "Just don't embarrass me."

"Never. Thanks Casper!"

"You have spent way too much time with Dov."

"Wait, did you just call the Ice Queen, Casper?"

"Your point?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Sammy?"

"Adapt or die, my friend. Adapt or die."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I do apologise about the lack of post last night - I've had the 'flu' and have been out of action this week, and because I felt better today I managed to write you a whole new chapter. There is a chance I might still be a little loopy so if nothing makes sense - let me know and I will correct it when I get a chance!**

* * *

"So we are looking for a Poodle?" Andy asked, not quite believing the call they had just responded to.

"That's right. Mutt's some sort of prize winner at a place called Ruffs."

"Crufts. It's a world championship in England for dog showing."

"Whatever. Mangey things gone missing and we now have to find it. I can think of better ways to spend my shift." Todd snapped. "Ooo! Dog!"

"That's a German Shepherd."

"Well, what the Hell does a God damn Poodle look like?"

"Well, you know, fluffy head, fluff on the legs and most of the body shaved."

"How do you know so much about dogs?"

"I had an Aunt who used to breed Collies. Poodle."

"A Collies Poodle? Never heard of it."

"No. Poodle. Right in front of you!"

Todd slammed on the brakes, bringing the squad car to a stop. He got out quickly and headed straight for the dog.

"I would slow down if I were you. They don't like sudden jerky movements." Andy advised him.

Todd ignored Andy and managed to block the frightened dog in a corner by a fence. He quickly approached and cornered it.

"Nice Doggy. Good Doggy." Todd cooed as he moved closer to the frightened animal.

"I'd stop that if I were you. You're scaring it." Andy warned him.

Todd still didn't listen to her, but crept closer to the dog. Suddenly the dog pounced on Todd, locking its jaws around his arm.

"Shoot the dog! SHOOT THE DOG!" Todd cried, trying to wrench his arm out of the ever tightening jaws of the dog.

Andy looked around her, frantically trying to find something to pull the dog off Todd with. She spotted a man watering the flowers outside his shop with a hose. She ran over to him, ignoring Todd's cries of pain.

"Excuse me, Sir, please can I borrow your hosepipe?"

"Why?"

Andy exhaled and waved her hand at Todd still trying to remove the dog from his arm.

"I want it back, my begonias won't last very long in this heat."

"You shouldn't water them in the middle of the day. It scorches them." She told him as she turned the pressure in the hose up and pointed it towards Todd and the dog.

When the jet of water hit the jog, it immediately released Todd's arm and ran towards the safety of the nearby bushes. Andy let the water run for a couple more seconds before shutting it off and handing it back to the shop owner.

"Thank you."

"WHAT THE HELL MCNALLY? A DOG IS TRYING TO TEAR MY ARM OFF AND YOU SET A HOSE ON IT! THAT IS WHAT YOUR GUN IS FOR!" Todd yelled at her.

"I warned you not to approach that dog and I am not going to shoot an animal for defending itself because it was scared."

"No. You wanted to play the hero. And now I am wet through."

"You know what. I don't care. At least I'm not having to explain to a woman her whole world is dead. These breeders and owners love their animals more than their children."

"Whatever. You gonna just stand there or are you going to get me to a hospital?"

"Fine, but I'm driving."

* * *

"Mc-Nal-Ly." Todd whistled through his teeth as he caught up to her in the parking lot.

"What?" Andy snapped

"A bunch of us are going out to the 'Streetfight'" He laughed as he looked at the shocked look on Andy's face "Relax, it's our local bar, anyway, it's been brought to my attention that you haven't been drinking with us yet."

"You know, I would, but I don't like any of you."

Andy saw Sam's truck pull up outside the gate.

"What is Swarek doing here?" Todd growled to another officer who had caught with him and Andy.

"I don't know man. He might be casing us to find our weaknesses for the retrain."

"Or he could be here for a completely innocent reason." Andy told them.

"I doubt it. This is Sam Swarek. He and the rookie they assigned him seem to work very well together. New recruits even learn about the McSwarek Dynamic at the academy."

"So if he and this _rookie_ kick so much ass, why is he here." Andy asked, masking her surprise she was being talked about at the Academy.

"Erm... Todd, he's getting out and coming over."

"MCNALLY! YOU COMING OR WHAT?" Sams voice pierced the air.

"Sorry boys, but I'm going drinking with 15 tonight."

"Excellent, try and get some info for us to use on this retrain."

* * *

Andy climbed in the passenger seat and looked at Sam nervously.

"Hi" he smiled at her, making his dimples pop out.

"Hi."

Sam looked behind her out of the window and saw Todd and a guy, whos name he thought was Witcham, stood staring at his truck and at Andy.

"Let's go."

Sam put his truck into drive and pulled out into the road.

He was about halfway to the restaurant when he reached over and took hold of Andy's hand.

"What did you tell them?"

"That I was going drinking with 15 tonight."

"You didn't tell him we're together?"

"It's none of his business."

Sam smiled and brought Andy's hand up to his mouth before placing his lips softly on it.

"Where are we going?"

"Dinner. I figured it's early days for us, so we should go somewhere where we can have some privacy and not have a repeat of last night."

"I know. I tried to get rid of them. Which reminds me. What did you do with it?"

"What did I do with what?"

"The jar in my freezer. Traci went looking for it last night."

"You mean the one full of frozen water and a post it with my name on it?"

"Yeah."

"I put it in the trash. What was the deal with that any way."

Sam could see Andy blush in the dim light of the car.

"Andy?"

"I told Traci about the night of the blackout and I told her that I wouldn't have left if the lights hadn't come back on, so she made me write your name down, stuck it in a jar of water and put the whole you and me thing on ice. I completely forgot it was there until Traci mentioned it was missing."

"How do you survive undercover?"

"I have you."

Sam pulled in to the kerb and cut his engine.

He turned to face Andy, reached over and placed his palm on her cheek.

He watched all her nervous energy and awkwardness melt and she pressed her face deeper into his hand and held his forearm loosely.

He leaned over the console and pressed his lips lightly to hers before pressing a little harder and pulling away.

"We're here." He said, popping his dimples and opening his door to jump out of his truck.


	17. Chapter 17

Andy giggled as she dug the keys to her front door. She had enjoyed an amazing dinner with Sam and now she could feel his hands on her hips and his breath on the back of her neck.

"Did I tell you you smell good?" Sam asked her in a whisper, his breath tickling the top of her ear, making Andy fumble with the key and press her head back into his shoulder groaning.

"If you don't stop that we won't make it inside." She warned him, her voice low and husky.

"I don't mind."

"I think the neighbours will." Andy told him, her voice returning to its normal pitch.

She stepped forward, reluctantly breaking bodily contact with Sam, selected the right key and tried to put it in the lock. Andy jiggled the key up and down a little to get it to turn, while Sam laughed behind her.

"Got the right key there McNally?"

"Do you want to come in or not?"

The key finally turned releasing the lock and allowing the door to swing forward. Andy turned to face Sam who had stepped closer to her again.

She ran her hands up his chest and gripped the front of his jacket, pulling his lips down to meet hers.

Sam deepened this kiss, parting her lips with his tongue and stepped forwards, guiding Andy backwards into the apartment, while she slid her hands underneath the front of his jacket and slipping it down and off his shoulders, dropping it just inside the door. Once he was clear of the door, he caught the edge with his foot and closed it behind him, before pressing her to the wall and attacking her neck with his mouth. He reached for the hem on Andy's sweater and slid his hands deftly underneath it. He fanned his palms out on her stomach before he gently began to roll it up.

He stopped when he heard a cough from the sofa and groaned.

"I swung by to see if you fancied dinner, but it looks like you've gone straight for dessert."

"Hi Dad!" Andy stammered, her face turning beet red.

Sam let go of Andy and headed for the door.

"It's ok Sam, I know I've interrupted. I'll go."

"I wasn't planning on leaving." Sam said as he bent down to pick his jacket off the floor and hung it up on the rack behind the door.

"What are you doing here Dad?" Andy asked.

"I told you. I came to see if you wanted Dinner. You know, to say thank you for taking care of me and what not."

Tommy got up from the sofa and walked towards Andy, embracing her with a hug.

"We'll go some other time, and I'll call first next time. Now you kids have fun, and use protection!"

"DAD!" Andy cried, while Sam rubbed his forehead in embarrassment.

"What? I don't want any Grandkids, not yet anyway."

Andy stood horrified as Tommy left her apartment, nodding at Sam on his way out.

"Well that was a mood killer." Sam said with a laugh. Andy simply stood still, still too horrified to move.

Sam went to the kitchen and found a bottle of wine opened in the fridge. He pulled two glasses out of the cupboard and poured one and handed it to Andy before pouring himself one.

"That was a train wreck. I hadn't told my dad that we'd, well, you know!" Andy said, drinking the glass of wine in one.

"He knew Andy."

"What did you do? Ask his permission?"

"No. He told me some truths I needed to hear."

"And?"

"Oh, you know, the usual fatherly advice to the man in his daughters life."

"Hurt me and get hurt yourself?"

"Something like that."

"Now that the mood is killed, do you want to stay or are you wanting to go home."

"What do you think?"

"Well you did already hang your jacket up." Andy smiled, setting her empty glass on the counter, taking Sam's hand and leading him to the bedroom.

* * *

"So come on McNally, what did you find out about 15 last night?" Witcham asked Andy as they were waiting for parade to start.

"Nothing I plan on telling you."

"Come on McNally, do you want us to lose for the sixth year in a row?"

"What I want to know is why Swarek picked you up last night."

"I went out for drinks with 15. He drew the short straw in coming to get me. That's all."

"But why did you go out for drinks with 15?"

"Alright! Quieten down!"

* * *

"And where did you go last night?" Oliver asked Sam quietly while they waited for Frank.

"Nowhere."

"Bull. You didn't come home last night."

"I crashed at a friends."

"McNally?"

"Why would you even go there?"

"I just thought, now that she's elsewhere, that you two would, you know."

"You thought wrong."

"Right you bunch of Clowns. Quieten down. I want to talk about this retrain." Frank called over the crowd of babbling officers.

"I know it's not until next week, but I want you to work with the partners you will be retraining with until then to get a feel for each other."

There was a twitter of laughter around the room.

"That was get a feel _for_ each other not feel each other _up_. I want to make this a record six years. Partners are as follows: Shaw and Epstein, Williams and Diaz, Peck and Nash and Sam, I believe you have _special_ instructions?"

"I do indeed." Sam confirmed, his smile so wide it was ear to ear, popping his dimples further than they had been popped before.

"Well, in that case, take Anderson up to Little Creek to collect an inmate."

"Damn you Frank!" Sam exclaimed, remembering the last time he had collected a prisoner with a rookie.

"Rookies, you will find your assignments on the board. Your TO's will be on hand should you need your hands holding. Get out of here and Serve, Protect and let's make 27 Division cry!"

* * *

"So McNally, next week for Re Train you will be there with the other rookies, but you will be sat on the sidelines watching with them, learning from us as we kick 15s asses. So come on. It's just you and me now. How do you know Swarek?"

Andy rolled her eyes. It was the tenth time he had asked and she decided to have a little fun.

"Well, my place got burgled a couple of years back and Sam was the responding officer. It turns out some of the, erm, more personal items that I thought was stolen had simply blown off the line into a bush. When he found out I'd got through the academy we went for a couple of drinks to catch up and for him to rip the piss out of me for not being very observant."

"Really? What sort of personal items?"

"The sort you're never, ever going to see."

"You say that now, but just wait."

"You do realise I am actually seeing someone?"

"So?"

"You're a pig."

* * *

"Oh my God! I get to spend the entire day with Swarek! Is he as good a teacher as they claim?" Anderson exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Better." Little told him, the jealousy clear in his voice.

"What do you guys talk about when you're in the car?"

"The job mainly. He's been kind of quiet the last couple of days, but he does like silence. Don't ask him to drive. The answer will be no."

Sam stuck his head in the locker room.

"Ready to go in five minutes Anderson." He grunted before heading for the car.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I am sorry I didn't post last night - I did plan on writing and posting, but my brother (who is out of the hospital - he is still having ups and downs but he seems to be doing a lot better. He is definitely laughing more!) moved his pot (he broke his wrist when he punched a policeman in the face) to make it more comfortable and felt something in his wrist snap. His fingers swelled, turned grey and he couldn't move them - so I ended up spending my night in A and E!**

 **But - here it is... the day you have all been waiting for... RETRAIN!**

* * *

"So it was an epic fail?" Andy asked as she dished out the take out she had ordered with Sam.

"Makes yours look easy!"

"How did the guy get away? I mean, at least mine was original and he pretended to be choking on a peanut allergy."

"You see, he tried that one, but having learned from that day, I checked his medical records before we left."

"So how did he do it?"

"That idiot managed to knock the safety lock off the door as he put the prisoner in the car, who saw it and bolted at the first opportunity."

"How long did it take you to track him down?"

"About six hours. It was not pretty. I think Anderson has Poison Ivy from when he fell into a ditch." Sam told her, a gleam in his eye as she sipped her drink.

Andy snorted, spraying Sam with wine.

"And how was your day?" he asked her, humour evident in his voice.

"Well, I was pestered about how I know you, what I learned about 15 division to help 27 win the retrain and I spent the day being hit on by Todd."

"I was at the Academy with that guy. He really doesn't like me."

Andy raised her eyebrows.

"I beat him. I came top of the class, he came second."

"Ah, that explains a lot."

"Like what?"

"He told me he came top of his intake and that he had to overcome favouritism that didn't go in his favour."

"That sounds about right. Except you know, everything. Retrain tomorrow. You scared?"

"No, you'll be there."

They finished their meal, while exchanging small talk and Sam got up to leave.

"You aren't staying?"

"As much as I would love to stay, Andy, Oliver is asking too many questions about my whereabouts last night. Besides, if I do stay you and I both know that we won't be very responsive tomorrow and if we stand a chance at getting you back to 15 we both need to be alert."

Sam picked his jacket off the sofa and headed for the door. He reached the door, turned to Andy and placed his lips gently on hers.

"Until tomorrow."

* * *

Andy followed Todd through the crowd of police officers, while keeping her eyes open for Sam.

"Rookie! These are the rules and I expect you to follow them. 1. Do not mingle with 15 Division. We are here to beat them and we do not need you to give away all of our secrets. 2. Watch how we work and learn from it. 3. Do not speak, even if you are spoken to. 4."

Andy tuned out of Todd's ramble about the 'rules' as she saw Sam. She smiled and followed Todd to the area where 27 were waiting for their turn.

"Oh Hell no! The Chief is running this?" Todd exclaimed.

"Is that unusual?" Andy asked, feigning her surprise.

"Definately. He never comes to retraining. Something big must have happened."

"Can I have your attention please!" the Chief called, immediately silencing the crowd of officers. When they were quiet he continued:

"Welcome to the annual tactical retrain day. The format of the day will be as follows: You will check to see when you and your assigned partner are to attempt the training run and collect your ball bearing guns. You will treat this run as you would any call. Your radios will be on the entire time and every word you say will be heard by everyone watching. When 27 do a run, 15 will be the criminals and visa-versa. If you are a criminal and are shot, you are out. Drop your weapons and sit on the floor. Every scenario will be different so that no copying will occur. First up, from 27 we have Todd and Witcham. 15, please designate officers. You have five minutes to plan your scenario."

Andy's attention flickered between seeing how well her 15 colleagues were doing and watching Sam, who kept catching her gaze and smiling.

Slowly, the number of pairs decreased and Andy began to get restless. 27 were currently beating 15 by a margin of three seconds with only Andy and Sam left to run.

"SWAREK AND PARTNER GEAR UP. 27 PLAN YOUR TACTICS!" The assessor called. Andy sneaked a look at Todd and saw he was in deep discussion with another six people, no doubt plotting how to best embarrass Sam. Knowing that Todd wouldn't notice, she slipped out of their cordon and headed towards Sam.

"You ready to do this?" he asked her as he handed her a holster, radio and guns.

"They are going to throw everything they have got at us. Todd is determind to embarrass you."

"Not going to happen. I have you. Come on, let's go get the car."

Andy and Sam headed to the squad car they were using for the exercise.

"So we go on the buzzer?" Andy asked.

"We go on the buzzer, just don't say anything inappropriate. Remember they can hear you." Sam confirmed, pressing a button on his radio as Andy pressed a button on hers that would allow everyone to hear what was said between them.

Sam got into the driver's seat and Andy the passengers.

They waited, and they waited, and they waited. About half an hour after getting in the car a buzzer sounded.

"Here we go." Sam said, shifing the car into gear.

He put his foot on the gas and the car shot forward towards the house they were supposed to be retraining in.

He pulled up outside, with the passenger side to the house and everything remained quiet.

"I don't like this." Andy said, looking at Sam.

The words had barely left her mouth when the windscreen shattered.

Andy threw her body across the seat towards Sam, who had opened his door and was scrabbling out of the door to use the car as protection from the bullets. Once he was safely out of the car, he grabbed Andy's arm and helped haul her out of the car and to safety.

"Can you see the shooter?" he asked.

Andy glanced around, pulling her gun out of her holster.

"There. Front window." She said, straightening up and firing at the window.

"Andy!" Sam yelled as he saw a flash in a window on the other side of the house.

27 were attacking them from both sides.

Sam fired at the second shooter.

Within the minute, both shooters had retired from view and Sam and Andy crept towards the house, pausing at the door.

Sam kicked the door in and stepped back to let Andy in through the door.

Together they moved through the lower floor of the house, clearing each room one by one, moving slowly and systematically.

Once Sam and Andy had cleared the lower floor they headed for the staircase.

Sam looked at Andy and turned his back on it. They took each step slowly, moving left shoulder touching left shoulder, Andy covering their front and Sam covering their back. When they reached the break in the stairs where they were most vulnerable, Sam saw the outline of a muzzle in the gap of the banister and fired, his shot hitting its mark. The officer from 27, thinking his positioning perfect, threw his gun to the floor and sat down in a huff.

Andy saw shadows move ahead of her, so when two bodies appeared at the top she was prepared and shot them before they shot her and Sam.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, they had the choice of three directions. Sam nodded that Andy should go to her right. They continued to move as they had up the stairs, as turning their backs to uncleared hallways was putting them at risk.

This proved to be a valuable tactic as one member of 27 had decided to try and sneak up on them. He didn't expect to be shot the second he broke cover.

Sam and Andy reached the end of their corridor. There was a door to their right and a door to their left. Sam shifted to one side of the corridor to allow Andy to open the door. She entered the room and Sam stood with his back to it to stop anyone from sneaking in behind them. He could sense her checking the room.

Andy checked the most obvious places to hide first. Behind the door, in the closet. As she turned to assess the rest of the room, she noticed the shutters over the windows were closed. And she could see a shadow moving behind it. Slowly and silently Andy crept to the shutters. Keeping two hands on her gun she used her toe to open it, surprising the officer inside.

She fired immediately.

"HMPH!" the officer grunted before sitting down.

Andy finished clearing the rest of the room before rejoining Sam. They walked over the hallway and Sam opened the door. While Sam cleared the room, Andy stood guard. She could see someone walking toward her and recognised the profile as Witcham. Andy moved a little further into the room, allowing Witcham the thought that he would sneak up on Sam.

Witcham felt the pellet hit his chest before he had even got the middle of the corridor. He looked up to see Andy in front of him, gun in hand, her head cocked to one side. He sat on the floor in disbelief.

There was another gunshot and Sam reappeared at the doorway. He looked down at Witcham sat on the floor and smiled, leading Andy back to the landing.

They progressed down the corridor to the right of the one they were currently in, clearing it in the same way as the one before. By the time they got back to the landing, they knew there was only one person left.

Todd.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Here is a treat for you all - helping me get to 200 reviews in only 18 Chapters.**

 **It is by far my personal best review rate and I do love reading what you all think, even if I cannot reply to all of you (as there are so many and so many of you log in as 'guest').**

 **Please keep them coming!**

 **Enjoy this bonus chapter!**

* * *

Sam and Andy crept down the remaining hallway quickly, their hearts pumping as they kept their eye out for Todd. There was only one door at the end of this corridor.

Andy knelt to the floor, opened the door and allowed Sam to enter ahead of her.

Sam stepped into the room as Andy saw the wire he was about to trip.

"SAM!"

She jumped to her feet and dived at Sam, catching him around the waist. They both heard the shot, but as Andy had reacted, it missed them both.

Sam scrambled to his feet first, and pointed his gun behind the door, covering Andy as she awkwardly stood up. They stood back to back in the centre of the room while rotating in a circle. The room appeared to be clear. They slowly began a thorough search of the cupboards and still couldn't find him.

Lowering their weapons slightly, Andy looked at Sam in confusion.

Sam shook his head as if he knew what Andy was thinking.

Cautiously, they slipped down the hallway looking everywhere for a hidden panel or space that they could have missed.

Suddenly Andy grabbed Sam's sleeve and nodded above their heads.

In the ceiling there was a loft panel.

There was a string they could use to pull the staircase down, but it was tucked up in the handle and neither of them could reach it.

The fallen members of 27 division watched as Sam ducked and Andy sat on his shoulders. He stood up and she dislodged the rope.

Once Andy was back onto the ground she got into position to pull the rope, while Sam got into position to deal with anything that might come out of the hole.

He nodded to Any that he was ready and she held up three fingers.

Mouthing 'one, two, three' and putting a finger down on each word, Andy pulled the rope and the staircase fell to the floor. Gunfire erupted from the top , but as Sam had stood off to one side it missed him completely.

Andy walked over to one of the fallen members of 27, picked up the smoke grenade that he had dropped when he was shot and tossed it to Sam who smiled and pulled the pin. He threw it up into the loft and it was suddenly filled with smoke.

A coughing Todd appeared at the top of the stairs and Sam stepped back to the shadows, keeping his gun trained on him the entire time. Andy moved into position underneath the staircase.

Todd stumbled down the staircase and came face to face with Sam and his gun.

"Why haven't you fired at me yet?"

"I thought I'd let my rookie do the honours." Sam said nodding behind Todd.

Todd's face fell as he realised that Sam's famous rookie was doing the retrain with him and turned to come face to face with Andy.

"You?" he spluttered, not quite able to believe he had missed Andy was Sam's rookie.

"Me." Andy confirmed before pulling the trigger.

An alarm sounded indicating the retrain was over and everyone got to their feet and made it outside into the sunshine, Andy and Sam laughing and joking with each other while the officers of 27 dragged their feet, embarrassed that they had been beaten so badly.

When Sam and Andy got back the pen where 15 were placed, Oliver held his arms wide and Andy ran into them, hugging him for all she was worth. Oliver let her go and she felt like she was being passed around her friends, being clapped on the back or hugged.

Both divisions fell silent when the Chief of Police walked to the board that held the times each partnership had completed the course in.

Slowly and painstakingly he moved the tags down the list. 15 were hoping that he would move every single one of them, while 27 were praying that he would stop. When he didn't stop and picked up the tab at the top, which had Todd and Witcham's name on it, 15 Division cheered. Clearly Sam and Andy had beaten their time.

The Chief placed the tab bearing Andy and Sam's name at the top, clearly displaying their time.

They had beaten Todd and Witcham by a full one minute and fifteen seconds.

"McSwarek! With me!" the Chief announced as he walked through the crowd of officers, brushing by Gail and squeezing her elbow.

Smiling, Andy and Sam followed the Chief. They were taken into the room where they were being assessed from. They both held their breath.

"When Gail came to me and told me the story of you two working together, I didn't believe it. I know Sam here has a reputation for being a lone wolf. But seeing the way you cleared that house I must admit I am impressed.

You cleared that house without speaking a single word to each other. Not only that you moved in perfect synchronisation with each other which led you to be a whole minute faster than your fellow officers from both divisions.

I am more than happy to sign these transfer papers to reinstate your partnership, however I am tempted to send you both to 27 Division. They clearly need to learn a bit more about partnerships."

Andy and Sam looked at each other, horrified at what they were hearing. The plan was to send them both back to 15, not 27.

"However, I know that Gail appreciates your company being a fellow Legacy so I am prepared to make you both a deal." He continued, looking at Andy.

"A deal, Sir?" Sam asked.

"Yes. A deal. You two will teach that manoeuvre you completed up the staircase at the Academy for every intake and I will ensure than neither of you can be transferred out of 15 division without both of you consenting in writing."

"So what you're saying is if we teach one class every six months we can stay at 15 and if one of us wants to transfer you would need consent from both of us in writing?" Andy asked.

"Exactly. I am also prepared to look the other way with regards to your personal relationship, as I am sure you both aware, while they are frowned upon within the division, they are forbidden between partners as it can cloud your judgement."

"Sir?" Sam stuttered, the blood draining from his face.

"I am not blind Sam, even if the rest of the division believe you when you say you are just friends. Just don't go shouting it from the rooftops."

Sam smiled at Andy, his eyes twinkling.

"You better not make me regret this decision."


	20. Chapter 20

Andy and Sam decided that people would start talking if they skipped the Penny that night, so they entered the bar to an ear splitting round of applause.

Laughing, Andy found that a drink was put into her hand and she and Sam were dragged into the throng of people.

Every time she and Sam finished their drinks, they found another one in their hands.

Andy found herself telling the others stories about her time at 27 and regaling them with the look on Todd's face when he realised that she was Sam's legendary rookie.

Sam found himself sat at the bar with Oliver, who was congratulating him on winning the retraining for the sixth year in a row.

"Don't even go there Oliver." Sam warned as Oliver opened his mouth to say something.

"Go where?" Oliver asked, his tone defensive.

Sam knocked his scotch back and looked at Oliver.

"I know it's now forbidden as you are now partners again, but you know what. Screw the rules. Anyone with eyes can tell you are good together."

"And on that note I am out of here." Sam said, throwing some money down on the bar and leaving Oliver shaking his head.

Andy watched Sam knock his drink back and leave the bar.

She wanted to go with him, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get away from her friends as she was rejoining 15 on a night shift.

Half an hour later, Andy managed to make an excuse to leave the bar. She was tired and it had been a difficult day. On her walk home she called Tommy.

"Hey Pumpkin, how'd it go?"

"I'm back at 15, but now I have to teach at the Academy twice a year with Sam."

"I bet Sammy loved that!"

"It was either agree or we would both end up at 27."

"Fair play. He there with you now?"

"No. He left the bar a while ago, and I'm just getting home."

"Ok. I'll talk to you later sweetheart."

"Night dad."

"Night."

Andy hung up the phone and ferreted around in her pocket for her keys. She opened her front door and looked at the stairs she would have to climb to get to her apartment. She smiled when she saw, sat on the top step: Sam.

"It's about time. I was starting to give up on you." He told her, his dimples popping as he got to his feet.

Despite the weariness she was feeling, Andy climbed the stairs and when she reached Sam she stood on her tiptoes and pulled his lips to hers.

Sam deepened the kiss before attempting to move Andy towards the wall. Being on the stairs, it actually made Andy slip and land on the next step down.

"You ok?" Sam asked her between kisses.

"I'm fine. Shall we get inside?" Andy replied, walking quickly up the remaining stairs and down the hallway to her apartment door, taking Sam's hand and pulling him along behind her, her body suddenly very much awake.

After making it through the door and checking no one was there to disturb them, Sam pulled Andy into another kiss and started to unbutton her shirt, not once removing his lips from her skin. He moved them from her lips to the side of her neck making her gasp and walked her back into the table before lifting her onto it.

Andy's hands were roaming. They slid under Sam's shirt and moved up his torso. Andy slid his shirt up his body and Sam reluctantly stopped the assault with his mouth to allow her to remove it. Once the shirt had been thrown clear of his body, Sam began kissing Andy again and looped her arms around his neck before picking Andy up and carrying her to the bedroom.

* * *

Andy woke up in a tangle of limbs. There was brilliant sunlight coming in through the bent slat in the blind and Sam was still fast asleep, arms around Andy like he never wanted to let her go.

Andy kissed the top of his head and gently edged her way out of the bed to the kitchen, stopping to pick Sam's shirt of the floor in the living room and putting it on. She rummaged through her cupboards and discovered she had nothing to cook pancakes with.

Pulling everything out of the cupboards and setting it on the counter she surveyed the ingredients she had and was trying to decide what she could cook for breakfast.

She didn't hear Sam sneak up behind her.

"What are you doing?" he whispered in her ear, rolling the 'r' and running his hands over her hips.

Andy relaxed into his embrace.

"Trying to decide if I have anything in to cook breakfast." Andy told him as she pulled away from his body towards the kitchen counter.

"I know what I'd like for breakfast." He growled, pulling her back towards him.

"Sam!" Andy squealed as Sam ran his hands up the front of his shirt and, in one fluid motion, pulled it over Andy's head before peppering her shoulder blade with kisses.

Sam could hear his cell ringing and groaned against Andy's neck before going to find his pants. By the time he got there his cell had stopped ringing, but thinking whoever had tried calling might try again, picked the phone up and walked back to Andy who had started to sort through the food again. Just as he kissed her on the back of her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist again, making her turn around in his embrace, his cell started to vibrate again.

Sam let Andy go and flipped his cell open, glancing at the caller ID.

"This had better be good Frank, I am kind of in the middle of something."

Sam bit his lip to stifle a groan and nearly missed Frank's reply as Andy softly kissed the base of his throat and ran her hands down past his waist.

"You want what?" Sam asked slightly breathless, trying to smack Andy's hands away from him.

"I want to see you and McNally at the diner in half an hour. I'll even buy."

"I'll call her. She might not be free you know." Sam told him, his voice slightly higher than his usual low grumble, as Andy started massaging his most private part.

"Sam. What are you doing?"

"I told you I'm in the middle of something and before you ask, no I am not alone."

"Call McNally, get her to the diner. I will leave you to Spank the Monkey. You have half an hour."

* * *

 **A/N:** **I do not know when this fic will end. It's one of those fics that I just keep writing until it gets too long (the last one I did this to ended up at over 110,000 words and 111 chapters!) and I start another one starting where this one finishes to break it up... but saying that - if any of you have any prompts I will see what I can do :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who offered to be on the receiving end of my ideas... I look forward to bouncing them off you!**

 **And I know - it's a day early. It's unprecedented, but I have plans both tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday and I am not cruel enough to make you wait until Sunday!**

* * *

Sam and Andy made it to the diner within 25 minutes and were relieved to find Frank was not there yet. They found an empty booth and settled into it. Within minutes the waitress arrived to take their order.

Andy, having wanted pancakes since she woke up, ordered a stack smothered in maple syrup, while Sam opted for a stack of pancakes with blueberries and yoghurt.

Frank arrived as the waitress placed two steaming mugs in front of the pair.

"You two couldn't have waited for me?"

"We ordered breakfast. If you want anything, let this lovely lady know." Sam told him, offering a dimple popping smile in her direction.

"Again, you couldn't have waited?" Frank said, before ordering French Toast and a coffee for himself.

"I was hungry! So why are we here Frank?" Andy protested.

"I have a little welcome back gift for McNally and I thought you'd want in on it Sam."

"What is it?" Andy asked, a little apprehensive.

"I want you two to do the Scavenger Hunt, but with a twist. I want you to run around collecting as much money and drugs as possible, while the rookies try and use the Law to catch you."

"So you want us to play robbers in a game of cops and robbers?"

"Exactly. I am also giving you permission to mess with the Rookies any way you see fit in order to avoid detention. If they have you arrested and at the station by six am, the drinks are on you. If you waltz in at half past then the drinks are on them."

"Sounds like fun. So start at normal shift in civvies?"

"Yeah, but you both might want to change to look the part" Frank advised them, noticing Sam was wearing the same clothes he had been the previous night.

"I did tell you I wasn't alone this morning." Sam told him, noticing Frank's look over his clothing.

Frank looked from Sam to Andy to guage her reaction to Sam seeing someone. Her face remained impressively impassive, so she either didn't hear Sam or she didn't care, and Frank decided to keep an eye on them.

Their order quickly arrived and Frank watched as two steaming stacks of pancakes were placed in front of Sam and Andy and was amused when the healthier option was put in front of Sam.

"There is something I would like to do first." Andy said, looking at Sam's pancakes and breaking some off with her fork, while Sam did the same with her stack.

"You two share all your meals?" Frank asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Only when we're working." Sam told him with a straight face.

* * *

"Little! Come with me. There's someone in interview one that I want you to talk to." Sam called as Little walked through the door.

Feeling a little nervous that Sam was asking him to conduct an interview, Little followed.

"I haven't changed into my uniform yet, Sir."

"That doesn't matter." Sam said as he led Little through the bull pen.

They reached interview one and Sam opened the door to let Little in before following and closing the door with a beep.

Little looked around at the room. It was empty. He spun to face Sam, but came face to face with Andy instead.

She kicked a chair in his direction.

"Sit." She told him.

Little didn't move.

"I said – sit. I want to talk to you" Andy repeated, her tone more commanding.

Little still didn't move.

"She will make you if you don't sit down." Sam warned him.

Huffing, Little dropped into the 'criminal' chair while Andy took a seat and Sam lurked by the door.

"Why? That's all I want to know. Why did you report us?" Andy asked.

Little considered for a while.

"I didn't report you." He finally said.

"Really, so, what? You happen to complain to your uncle, about what? A female being in the male changing rooms? And he transfers me out with no explanation or warning?"

Sam could see Little blanche at the mention of his uncle.

"Tell us and we might let you off the shift unscathed." Sam told him, picking the dirt from under his fingernails.

"What do you mean let me off shift unscathed?"

"Didn't you ever get taught? Never mess with a true Legacy, they have more influence than you could possibly imagine."

"What do you mean a true Legacy? I am a Legacy."

"You are only a legacy when one or both of your parents are 50." Sam informed him.

"Anderson is a Legacy and his brother is a cop!" Little pouted.

"Anderson's father was a legendary Vice cop over at 13 Division. Now let's get back to the trust issues we now face here."

Little refused to answer Andy's question about why he had told on her and Sam and remained silent until Frank knocked on the door.

"Guy's if you have quite finished having your payback fun, parade is about to start and I need Little here to take part."

* * *

Five minutes later, Little walked into parade clipping his belt and radio to his body.

"Alright! Now everyone is here, let's begin."

"Wait a minute Frank, where's McSwarek?" Oliver asked, looking around the room and noticing their absence.

"If you will can it and let me do my job I will tell you. McSwarek are celebrating the fact that they are, indeed, back to being McSwarek again by running our annual Scavenger Hunt."

"What?"

"No!"

"I thought only Rookies do that?"

There were more comments, which Frank didn't hear, but it took him whistling with his fingers to restore order.

"There is a catch. The Rookies will be paired up, and, using the Law and what they know of it, will be on the lookout for Sam and Andy committing minor crimes with the aim of arresting them. If both Andy and Sam are arrested and brought back here by 6am then they will buy everyone drinks at the Penny. Rookies, if they walk in here of their own free will a half hour later, then _you_ will buy the drinks!"

All of the officers sat up a little straighter, suddenly alert. Frank continued:

"If you stop them and have no lawful reason to do so, they have been told to let you know using the code word: razzmataz, at which point you must immediately let them go and allow the other to explain to you why you have no legal standing. They will also give you fair warning when they will be back in the game. You can only stop them if they commit a crime in front of you and, just so you know, they are instructed to mess with you within the game scenario. You will also be required to work as normal within your shift. Assignments are on the board. Go, get out of here and serve, protect and know your law!


	22. Chapter 22

Andy and Sam walked into a diner and ordered a coffee each before settling into a booth.

"You look good." Sam said, glancing Andy up and down. She was wearing a red tank top, black mini skirt, her leather jacket and a pair of boots. She had also straightened her hair and Sam was struggling to keep his eyes off her.

Andy beamed at Sam and took his hand in hers.

"Frank only left me with a cell phone that only has Oliver's number in and enough cash for a coffee, so we are going to need some cash first before we can do anything."

"How do we get cash? The most I can do is play where's the pea? We won't get very far with that."

"It's a start. I know a couple of dealers that still trust me."

"What if the rookies show up?"Andy asked, mashing her mouth into a line and arching her eyebrow at Sam.

"I'll tell them to run and that they are after me."

Andy laughed.

"We'll need some stuff for the trick."

"Like what?"

"Paper cups and a ball of some description."

"Best place to do it would be the other side of town, at the Sunny Day Inn. Loads of gullable drunks willing to part with their money."

"Let's drink up and take a walk!"

"The walk takes us down hooker row."

"Could be fun!"

Sam laughed as two steaming mugs of coffee were placed in front of them.

"Do you remember the last time you were in the district?"

"Vividly. My feet hurt for three days!"

The phone buzzed in Sam's pocket. It was a message from Oliver.

 _'_ _You two better be ready. The dogs have been released and they are hungry...'_

"We better get going. The games in play." Sam said, taking a large mouthful of his coffee and sliding out of the booth, dragging Andy by the hand.

He threw some money on the table and they headed for the door.

The sidewalk was packed and Sam threw his arm around Andy's shoulders so they wouldn't lose each other. He steered Andy through the throng of people towards the stretch of road that they knew to be frequented by prostitutes. As they approached, Andy shrugged Sam's arm off her shoulder and quickened her pace slightly.

"What are you doing McNally?" Sam muttered as he watched her stagger slightly to the kerb.

As a car approached Andy, Sam hung back slightly and he watched as the car stopped next to Andy, who had to turn back and take a couple of steps to the window.

"What can I do for you hun?" he heard Andy ask.

"I'll give you $5 for a blow job."

"I don't think so." Andy snorted, straightening up.

Smiling at the fact he and Andy had a free pass to do what they wanted and she was still working. He pulled his phone out and text Oliver the car registration details and a brief outline of what had happened as the car drove off.

He got an immediate response promising to pull the driver over away from the street.

He saw Andy glance a smile back at him and he realised she was enjoying herself.

She set off walking again and had barely staggered a metre when the next car pulled up. She glanced at Sam, who held up a finger and mouthed 'last one' at her before she approached the driver. Sam was already texting Oliver.

"Hey Pretty Lady, not seen you around here before."

"I'm new."

"I can see that. What would you do for, I don't know?" The driver asked her, waving a rolled up wad of cash and raising his eyebrows.

Andy saw he had pulled the money out of the centre console and also noticed there were two more bundles nestled in there.

"SHIT!" the driver hissed as he spotted two uniformed Police Officers walking towards them.

"What I _would_ do is lie to the cops about why you're here so you don't get arrested." Andy whispered.

The driver slid the money into Andy's palm, so that no one, not even Sam, could see.

"You better make it good."

Andy stood back from the car and flashed a smile at Sam, while tucking the roll down her shirt before turning to the two approaching Police Officers. She and Sam immediately recognised them as two of the Rookies that were meant to be tailing them, even if neither of them knew their names.

"What is going on here?" the shorter one of the two asked. Andy read his name badge: Figg

"He was just asking for the Novotel. I was just telling him I don't know where it is. Maybe you could direct him to it?" Andy told them, her face straight.

"Really?"

"Really." The driver confirmed "I am so hopelessly lost."

"Ok. So you go the end of the road here and turn right. Then you take the fifth left, and be careful, it sneaks up on you. Drive to the end of the road and you should see the car park." The taller of the two told him. His name badge: Tony.

"Thank you so much officers. I hope I make it before check-in ends." The driver said before pulling away.

"Razzmataz." Andy said as Figg opened his mouth to speak.

"What? I didn't say anything!"

Sam stepped forward out of the shadows.

"You have no proof anything was said or offered by the driver and you didn't see anything change hands. At which point you have no legal grounds for searching McNally."

"Oh come on!" Tony complained

"Why do you think we do the sting every year?" Sam asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Ok. Get out of here." Fidd conceded in defeat.

Sam and Andy stepped around the two now irritated officers and continued to the Inn where Andy was going to hustle using the cups that had got from the diner and the small ballhad fashioned out of foil.

It took them a further ten minutes to reach the inn. A further twenty minutes and Andy had hustled $200 from four unsuspecting drunks. She passed $50 to Sam who began to hustle people on the pool table.

It took them 90 minutes, but between them they managed to win $900. Some of it was luck and some of it was due to the freely flowing alcohol.

"Alright! Let's go buy some drugs!" Sam said as he put their winnings into his pocket.


	23. Chapter 23

"You want a drink?" Andy asked as they reached the centre of town.

"I would love a soda." Sam replied, handing her some of their winnings. He spotted someone lurking in the shadows of the alley two doors down from the store. "I'll be over there seeing my guy about a thing."

"I'll meet you there."

Sam watched Andy go into the store and glanced the hood of the cruiser poking it's nose out of the side street halfway down the block.

Shaking his head, he walked to the alley to meet his guy.

"Sammy, word on the street is that you a cop."

"That a problem?" Sam asked.

"You gonna bust me?"

"I will if you don't give me what I want."

"What you need?"

"What you got?"

"I gotta say, a cop with a habit?"

"Amazing things happen when you spend so much time under cover. Affects your life in so many ways."

"I got some crystal, prime quality."

"How much?"

Sam pulled a few notes out of his pocket and handed it to the dealer, while taking the packet of white powder off him.

Andy headed towards Sam as he slid the drugs into his pocket.

"She your bird? She's fine." The dealer asked, eyeing Andy up.

Sirens pierced the night air as the cruiser screeched to a stop at the end of the alley, just before Andy arrived at Sam's side.

"You set me up!" the dealer screamed at Sam.

"I didn't, I swear. They're here for me, not you so you better run. Go, I'll cover for you."

Sam's dealer ran away from the two rookie officers while Sam and Andy turned to face them to discover it was Little climbing out of the driver's seat and Anderson out of the passenger's.

"Good evening Officers. Can I help you?" Sam asked, grinning as Anderson hovered by his elbow and Little hovered by Andy's.

"We have reason to believe that you have just taken part in a drugs deal. I am obligated, under the Law, to search you both." Little told them.

"If you would please step against the wall and place your hands flat against it above your head." Anderson asked him, trying to lead Sam over to the nearest wall.

"And if you would step this way please Miss." Little said, indicating Andy should step against the opposite wall.

"Razzmataz!" Andy called before they moved.

Anderson let go of Sam and, rather reluctantly Little let go of Andy.

"What did we do? That was by the book." Anderson asked, more curious than offended.

"You have the right to search me. You saw me buy, what you suspect to be drugs so I am fair game, but what lawfull right do you have to search McNally?"

"She was with you."

"No, I wasn't. When the deal was happening I was in the store buying sodas. When you pulled in I wasn't even in the alley and when you stopped Sam I could have been an ordinary person just using the alley as a short cut."

"So we can search Sam but not you?"

"Correct. You have no evidence that Sam and I are here together and you haven't seen me do something illegal so you have no reason to stop me." Andy confirmed.

"There is one more thing." Sam pointed out.

"What?"

"You two searching McNally would get you both suspended."

Little and Anderson looked at Sam and Andy in confusion.

"You two are male, Andy is a female. In order to search her you would need to get a PW here. You cannot take her back to the Barn because she could dump drugs on the way. Know what? We're going to give you two thirty seconds to plan your next move, then we are back in the game from the positions we are now in."

Anderson turned to Little and whispered quickly while Andy timed it on her watch.

"Aaannnnnd, go!" Andy said when their time was up.

Sam marked the occasion by setting off down the alley at a sprint, hoping his sudden bolt would confuse the rookies.

Little set off after Sam immediately while Anderson radioed it in.

"Suspect running down the Alley outside the Smiths store." He called into his radio before turning to Andy: "Stay here, I want to talk to you later."

Anderson set off running after Little who had a head start.

Andy smiled to herself and tossed the cool metal from her hands into the air with a jangle and catching it. Looking back down the alley and working out the route Sam would take, she set off in the opposite direction.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this chapter is a little short, but I wanted you to all wonder what Andy was up to... PM me if you think you got it!**


	24. Chapter 24

Sam ran knowing that Little was out to redeem himself. He figured he knew the streets better than him, so finding a small nook to hide out in should have been easy.

Sam took a left, then a right and headed back toward the crowded street, but before he got there his path was blocked by a cruiser. He glanced at the buildings either side of him and noticed the fire exit on the one on his right was open. He was about to break for it when he looked at who was behind the wheel.

Andy was sat in the driver's seat of the cruiser and nodded her head that he should get in. Hearing Little getting close to turning the corner, Sam ran at the cruiser, jumped on the bonnet and slid to the other side before wrenching the passenger door open and throwing his body in.

The door has barely closed before Andy set off.

"Do I want to know how?" Sam asked her when he got his breath back.

"What is it Gail says? 90% luck 10% timing."

"You swiped the keys?"

"Of course. Right off Little's belt. He should really think about putting them in his pocket."

Sam laughed and fastened his seatbelt.

"I can't believe the dumbasses left you alone."

"I can't believe Anderson told me to stay."

"Yeah, like that was ever going to happen. So now what McNally? We can't keep driving around in the cruiser, we'll get caught."

"I was thinking of taking it to Basset Hills, you know that section under the flyover and calling Oliver to come and get it."

"We should tell him for the purposes of the game it's burned out and the shotgun is missing."

"Before I forget, here's your soda." Andy said, handing Sam the can, but dropping it so it hit her bare leg.

"Holy CRAP! That's cold." Andy squealed as Sam removed it from her skin.

He cracked it open and took a couple of long, deep gulps.

10 minutes later Andy pulled into the vacant lot that was dubbed Basset Hills and killed the engine.

She opened her door and climbed out, just as an unusually strong gust of wind blew the door shut, trapping her leg in it.

"Aaarrrggghhhh" she cried out as Sam shut his door.

"You ok?" he called, rushing to her side.

"I'm fine, the door trapped my leg is all." She said, pushing the door away from her and limping from the car.

Sam slammed the offending door closed and watched as Andy went to sit on the hood. Sam pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialled Oliver while walking over to join her.

"Hey Ollie."

"Sammy, McNally pulled any more Johns?"

"No, we were moved on when two rookies showed up. We do need you to come to Basset Hills, and bring Peck with you. We have kind of acquired a vehicle and could do with disposing of it."

"Which vehicle?"

"Little and Anderson's Cruiser. We need you to tell them it's been burned out and the shotgun is missing too."

"That is cruel man, just cruel. I understand you did a runner from a rookie and managed to stay on your feet?"

"Very funny Oliver. Basset Hills."

"Sure, we'll be there in half an hour, we're just dealing with a disturbance and then we'll be with you."

He hung up the phone and turned to face Andy.

"They're going to be half an hour." He told her running his hand down the side of her face, while propping himself up with his other hand.

He slowly brought his face to Andy's and covered her lips with his own. This shift of Sam's weight moved the hand that was propping him up to a wet patch. His hand slipped completely allowing his entire weight to land on Andy and push her horizontally onto the hood, trapping Sam's other hand underneath her torso.

Once Sam had lifted his weight and extracted his hand, he used a nearby streetlight to look at his hand. He saw it was smeared with something dark.

Looking at the cruiser, he could see a trail of the same dark substance on the hood, just below Andy's leg.

"You're bleeding!" he told her, concern in his eyes as he prodded her leg with his hand.

"It's nothing Sam. Just a scratch."

"There's blood all over the cruiser, it's more than just a scratch." He told her, walking to the trunk of the car and pulling out the first aid kit.

He was securing the bandage with tape when Oliver and Gail arrived.

"Jesus McNally! What did you do?"

"Trapped my leg in the door. It's fine."

"The cruisers covered in blood." Gail said, spotting the red smear and small pool.

"It'll wash off." Sam pointed out, holding his hand out for Andy to take so she could jump down.

"So what's the plan?" Oliver asked.

"Here's the keys, now you tell Anderson and Little their cruiser has been found and is on fire."

"Are they stupid enough to buy that though?" Oliver asked.

"There's a report of a car in flames over on Columbia. We could make it plausible." Gail told him.

"You better call Frank before you broadcast that over the radio." Sam advised him.

"Good point." Andy confirmed.

"I've already told him you two have the cruiser, so there's no need."Oliver told them before pressing the button on his radio.

"Despatch, this is 10-16, we have located the missing cruiser."

"10-16, where?"

"Despatch, you know that car that was called in because it was on fire?"

"10-16, rodger."

Within seconds Olivers cell started ringing.

"It's Epstien." He said answering the call. "Hey Epstien, how can I help you today?"

"I am stood looking at that car Oliver and it sure as hell isn't our missing cruiser. What are you playing at?"

"Well, I am stood in front of our missing cruiser staring at Sam and Andy sat on the hood of it. As much as they would love to burn the actual cruiser I highly doubt either of them are that stupid."

"I got you. Does Frank know about this?"

"I told him who stole it in the first place, so he should."

"I've got to go, the hose monkeys want a word."

Oliver hung up the phone.

"We'd better go. People being idiots everywhere. Peck, you take ours, I'll take this one and we'll meet back at the Barn. Don't worry, I'll hide it well."

"Wait, before we go. I have an idea that will make everyone's night." Gail said, eyeing up the party goers that were ambling past the lot.


	25. Chapter 25

"All units, we have a sighting of our scavenger hunt suspects on the corner of pebble and boulevard." Gail announced over her radio.

Anderson and Little were two blocks away when they heard it. After having their squad car stolen by people unknown, they were out to redeem themselves.

They ran as fast as they could towards the street corner where Gail had told them they had seen Andy and Sam and got there in enough time to see Andy disappear down an alley, closely followed by Sam and a man they had never seen before.

Wanting to catch Andy buying drugs, they held back a little bit, waiting to strike at the most opportune moment.

They saw the dealer and Andy discussing, what they assumed to be price, while Sam was looking at the wall of the club they were next to.

They watched as Andy handed the mystery man a few notes and the man handed Andy a small, clear packet with small white pills in it.

Anderson looked at Little, who nodded at him that they should go in after them.

They both drew their guns, as they were to treat Sam and Andy like suspects and entered the alley, just in time to see Sam and Andy head into the club by an emergency exit.

* * *

Sam and Andy had known that Little and Anderson were watching them and made all of their movements very carefully. Andy had waited until Sam had opened the door to the club before proceeding with the drugs buy. They timed it so that Anderson and Little entered the alley just as they both made it safely through the doorway.

They made their way down the corridor, overfull with people and meandered their way to the bar. Sam settled himself on the only free barstool and ordered two glasses of water, while Andy propped herself up against the stool, settling between Sam's legs.

"This is going to be epic." She giggled and a jaunty tune started to reverberate through the club.

"Photos?" Sam asked.

"It would be rude not to. Pass me the phone,"

They saw Anderson and Little arrive onto the club floor and immediately get surrounded by twenty large, muscle bound men.

Andy hit record on phone's camera function and tried desperately, and failing through laughing, to keep it still as Little and Anderson were both pulled into a ballroom dancing embrace and waltzed around the floor, completing spin after spin with their male dance partners

"Wait here." Andy told Sam as she saw an opening to really wind the Rookies up.

Andy silently slipped between the waltzing couples and, without missing a beat, reached into Anderson's belt and removed his handcuffs. Catching the eye of their dance partners, Andy indicated that they should try and get the two Rookies back to back.

Quickly, so neither of them could react, Andy placed on of the cuffs around Anderson's wrist and the other around Little's, clicking them both shut. Laughing she bounced back over to Sam, pulling at his arm to leave.

They left the club through the front door, nearly tripping over with laughing too much and moved into the shadows across the street from the club.

"How long do you think we have until they get out of those cuffs?" Andy asked, pulling Sam towards her with the front of his jacket and backing them both up to the wall.

"A good 10 minutes." Sam replied, running his nose down the side of Andy's face before gently placing his lips on hers. She parted her lips and he swept his tongue across her teeth, making her knees buckle.

"So are you coming back to mine after this shift?" Andy asked as Sam moved onto kissing her neck.

"If you want me to."

"Is it c-c-c-cold in winter?" She stammered as Sam ran his tongue up her neck to just behind her ear before chuckling at her answer.

Andy saw the door to the club open and saw Little stumble out of it, his shirt untucked, with Anderson fastening his trousers behind him.

"Sam, I hate to do this but, we're up!"

For the rest of the shift, Andy and Sam followed the two Rookies, buying drugs where they could and ducking into the shadows and alleyways when one of them turned around.

At five thirty am, they followed the Rookies back to the barn and watched them trudge through the gates before heading into the Black Penny to order breakfast.

* * *

An hour later, Sam and Andy strolled through the front doors of the Barn and Traci buzzed them through the interior doors.

Laughing, they headed straight for the briefing room and got wolf whistled as soon as they walked through the door.

"Alright you lot, quiet! We all knew McSwarek would be waltzing in here, question is, what trouble did they get up to?" Frank called, silencing the room as all eyes fell on the two officers.

"I think you should do this properly. These two have been a pain in my ass all night!" Oliver called.

"I agree!" Noelle called, making Sam and Andy both groan.

"Anderson, I want you to search Swarek and you, what's your name, Steeler? I want you to take McNally."

The two rookies stood in front of Sam and Andy.

"Turn around, put your arms in the air and spread your feet." They instructed.

Sam and Andy turned around and put their arms in the air, standing with their feet shoulder width apart.

Anderson and Steeler patted down Sam and Andy, paying particular attention to their pockets and waistbands.

Anderson paused when he got to Sam's back pocket. He could feel something in it so he checked inside it and pulled out a $20 bill.

Steeler also paused when she reached Andy's waistband. She could feel something small flapping about just above it and pulled the small, clear bag of pills from it.

"That's all I found." She said, throwing the pills on the table.

"That's all I got." Anderson announced adding the money to the drugs.

Frank looked at the meagre offerings and then at his two officers.

"I think you two Rookies need to go back to the Academy and retake the class on how to search a suspect. Shaw, Nash. Search 'em".

Traci walked over to Andy and asked her to turn around. She patted Andy down a little more thoroughly than Steeler had and found a further three bags of drugs and $50.

Oliver searched Sam and found two large bags of white powder, five small bags of white powder, one bag containing smaller bags of pills, a block of a brown solid wrapped in tinfoil and a further $400. Before Oliver finished his search, he slipped the cruiser keys into Sam's pocket.

"That's more like it!" Frank said, happy they had amassed a decent quantity of drugs.

"Wait, I think Nash also needs to go back to that class." Sam announced, eyeing up their spoils.

"What?" Traci spluttered. She had searched Andy thoroughly.

Sam laughed and walked over to Andy. He grabbed her arm and spun her round to face the wall, using his foot to spread her feet wider before searching her.

He added the remaining $200 of what was left of their original $900, two further bags of white powder and a joint of cannabis.

He placed his hands on the back of her legs and shifted his body weight so that no one could see the pocket where Oliver had slipped the key into.

"JESUS SAM! Your hands are cold!" Andy squealed as she jumped a mile at the contact.

"Well, well, well, looky what I just found. The keys to a police cruiser." Sam said, laughing at Andy flinching and holding up the keys.

"What, wait, that was you?" Little spluttered in disbelief.

"Yeah. Swiped the keys right off your belt, just like I did with Andersons cuffs." Andy said turning back around to face the room.

"Is that everything?" Frank asked, his eyebrows so high they ran the risk of disappearing into his hairline.

"I think so." Sam said, looking at Andy.

"Not quite." She said, reaching into her bra and pulling out a roll of money. She tossed it onto the table,

"When the hell did you get that? I've been with you the entire night!"

"It's amazing what John's will pay to stay out of jail."

"There's got to be five grand there!" Frank exclaimed.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: I am sorry I didn't update last week. I have been quite ill recently :(**

 **My update rate might also become a little more sparodic, as the laptop I am using is on loan to me and has been requested back by the people that own it. I am trying to raise the money to buy a new one of my very own using go fund me but it could take a while!**

 **I am also so sorry this is quite short, but I am trying to write it as I babysit a 4 year old who refuses to go to bed!**

* * *

"I cannot wait to be out of these boots. They're killing me!" Andy moaned as Sam pulled up outside her apartment. Her feet were hurting and she was very, very tired.

"They've been killing me all night." Sam told her with a grin.

Andy slapped Sam lightly on the arm as he turned off the ignition of the truck. He watched as Andy opened the door and gracefully, given the length of her skirt, climbed out. She turned and placed her hand on the door to close it.

"What are you waiting for?" Andy asked, pushing the door closed as Sam unbuckled his seat belt and climbed out of the car after Andy.

Andy opened the door and Sam followed her inside. Inside the door, Sam took hold of Andy's hand and they walked up the stairs in a comfortable silence. By the time they reached Andy's apartment, Andy could barely put one foot in front of the other and Sam was struggling. It had been years since he had spent almost an entire shift on his feet on the streets. He would never admit it, but he had enjoyed himself.

Andy fumbled with the keys to the front door and eventually managed to slot the right one in and wiggle it until the lock clicked and the door opened.

"You know we could just sleep." Sam suggested as he watched Andy teeter on her heels.

"That sounds like a plan right about now." Andy mumbled as Sam closed the door and snaked his arm around her waist.

Sam guided Andy to her bedroom where she immediately sat down on the edge of the bed and made an attempt to remove her boots. Seeing her struggle, Sam knelt down on the floor and lifted her foot. Slowly he unzipped the soft leather and slipped it off her foot and placing the boot at the end of the bed before repeating with the other one. He carefully needed each of Andy's feet to get her circulation flowing again. She let her body drop onto the bed and a moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Sam laughed and moved his way up Andy's body before placing a chaste kiss to her lips.

"Sleep, remember." he said, standing up and pulling Andy off the bed so he could pull back the covers before emptying his pockets on the nightstand.

They climbed into the bed and Sam pulled the covers over the pair of them and Andy cuddled into his embrace.

They were both asleep within minutes.

* * *

Sam woke to a buzzing sound in his ears and a very warm, tickled nose.

Glancing at Andy sound asleep in his arms and realised the buzzing was coming from his phone. He reached over and patted the nightstand until he found his phone. He didn't bother checking to see who it was before flipping the phone open and placing the receiver to his ear.

"Swarek"

"Sammy, I'm just calling to make sure you're still on for taking Katie next weekend."

Knowing he might wake Andy, he nudged Andy off him and slipped out of bed and padded his way to the kitchen.

"Next weekend?"

"You remember, I said I wanted to go away with the girls for a Hen Party and you said you'd watch your niece so I could do that."

"I remember the conversation Sarah, but are you sure it's next weekend?"

"I'm positive. You can take her can't you?"

"Yeah, it's just crept up on me that's all. You're going to bring her by at five on the Friday and pick her up at the six on the Sunday?"

"That's the plan. Oh by the way, she's really into Disney right now."

"Greeeeaaaat!" Sam groaned as Sarah hung up on him.

Sam tossed his phone on the counter and crept back to the bedroom and back into the bed. As he wrapped his arms around Andy, he felt her stir.

"Who was that?" she mumbled.

"My sister." Sam said, rubbing his nose just behind her ear.

He felt her squirm in his arms and Andy wriggled to face him, kissing him.

Just as Sam ran his hand up Andy's body and under her t-shirt the buzzer sounded to Andy's front door.

Andy broke her mouth away from Sam's and laughed, throwing the covers off her and going to answer it.


	27. Chapter 27

Sam groaned and turned his body so that his chest was occupying the space Andy had just been, his face buried in her pillow, inhaling her scent. He heard a mumble and then the buzz of Andy allowing the stranger access to the apartment. He felt his eyes fluttering shut, but they sprung open when he heard Andy answer the door.

"Hi Dad! Is everything ok?" he heard her say from the door.

Deciding it was safe to get out of bed, Sam threw back the covers and once more got out of bed and set off for the kitchen.

"Morning Sam, I didn't wake you did I?" Tommy asked him as Sam stepped out of the bedroom.

"No. Night shifts. It's time we were getting up anyway."

"Not that I'm not happy to see you dad, but why are you here? Andy asked while making coffee in the kitchen

"Seen as though your birthday is coming up, I thought I would reignite an old tradition with a new twist."

Sam looked from Tommy to Andy and back again. He had no idea it was Andy's birthday and briefly wondered what to get her before registering the shock on Andy's face.

Tommy laughed at the expressions he was seeing in Sam and Andy, before fishing an envelope out of his pocket and passing it to Andy.

"I thought the two of you could go." he explained as Andy sliced the envelope open and emptied it on the counter top.

Two smaller envelopes fell onto the counter and Sam reached for the nearest one. It was brightly coloured and held an air of excitement within it. Curious Sam opened the flap and pulled out two tickets to The Lion King on Broadway in New York City.

He looked up to Andy to see she was holding what appeared to be two return plane tickets.

"Dad, you shouldn't have!" Andy scolded Tommy while Sam inspected the tickets more closely.

"I wanted to do something special for you to make up for all the times I missed your birthday because I was too drunk to know better."

"Thanks Dad!" Andy said wrapping her arms around his neck and planting kiss on his cheek.

"I can't go." Sam told them.

Andy and Tommy looked at him.

"I promised my sister I would look after my niece for the entire weekend. It's been planned for months." he explained, pointing at the date.

"I can't go, I'm on that sobriety cruise you made me go on." Tommy said.

"I could ask Traci I guess."

"Leo." Sam reminded her.

"What about Dylan?" Tommy suggested.

"I can ask him if he's got plans and can take the time off work. Oh God! Work! I'll have to clear this with Frank."

"Speaking of Work. If we don't get dressed and get going we will be late and raise eyebrows."

* * *

"Frank?" Andy asked, knocking on the glass wall of his office.

"What can I do for you Andy?"

"I wanted to know if the schedules for the month were out yet?"

"Yeah, I've got them right here."

"Am I working next weekend?"

"Can I request it off as vacation? I'm going away for the weekend for my birthday."

"Fill this in, sign it and get it back to me." Frank told her handing her a piece of paper.

He looked her up and down. There was no indication of excitement and he wondered how long it would take before Sam would request the weekend off too.

"What have you got planned?"

"I'm going to see a show on Broadway."

Andy left Frank's office and back to the bulllpen. Sitting at her desk she placed the form on the top of it and picked up a pen. Knowing Sam would also need a vacation form, she put the pen down and went to the photocopier and copied the form. On the way back to her desk, Andy wordlessley handed the form to Sam and sat back at her own desk. She filled it out and signed the bottom and pushed it away and picked up her cell. Dylan answered after a couple of rings.

"Hey!"

"What's up?"

"You got plans next weekend?"

"Yeah, kind of. Well, it's complicated. Why?"

"Dad got me tickets for my birthday and he can't go."

"I'm sorry Andy but I can't make it either. What about that guy your not seeing?"

"He can't make it."

"I'm sure someone will go with you."

"I don't know many people who would be up for going to see the Lion King and spending a weekend with me for my birthday. I've got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"I'll go with you." said a quiet voice.

Andy looked around and thought she was hearing things. She glanced at Gail who was looking directly at her.

"I'll go with you. I've always wanted to see a show on Broadway!" Gail repeated.

* * *

"So you're going to New York with the Ice Queen?" Sam asked as he drove them out of the Barn.

"Looks like."

"You don't seem overly excited about the idea."

"A full weekend stuck in a hotel with Gail. I can think of better ways to spend my birthday!"

"Which brings me to, when exactly were you going to tell me it's your birthday next weekend?"

Andy chewed her lip and stared out of the window.

"You weren't going to tell me, were you?"

"I don't tend to celebrate my birthday. It was the day my mom walked out and you probably heard this morning, most years my dad was too drunk to even remember what day of the week it was." Andy explained, still staring out of the window.

"Andy, I'm sorry." Sam said, reaching over the centre console and taking her hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"You don't need to be sorry. It was a long time ago." She told him, looking him and smiling.

"So is it the Saturday or Sunday?"

"You aren't going to let this drop are you?"

"Nope."

"Unit 1506, disturbance at 390 Smiths Street."

Sam released Andy's hand as she reached for the radio.

"Unit 1506, show us responding."

Andy flicked the switch to turn on the siren and lights and Sam pressed his foot down on the accelerator.

"Saturday. My birthday is Saturday."


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: I have some good news! My friend has lent me their laptop so I am back on a Friday! Except this week... this week is a Thursday - mainly because you lovely people have sent me 300 reviews in only 27 chapters! Thank you all and keep them coming! (and the events in this squad car - while they sound a little far-fetched actually happened on my street!**

* * *

Sam was driving to the disturbance call when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye about to step out onto the street.

"Sam!" Andy screamed as she saw the man step out and could clearly see his intention was to step in front of the car.

"Woah!" Sam yelled as he slammed his foot onto the brake and stopped inches away from him. "You ok?" he asked when the car was stopped and he reached for his seat belt.

"I'm fine. You go."

Sam got out of the car and headed over to the man, while Andy pressed the button on the radio.

"Despatch, this is 1506. We have encountered a problem on route to the disturbance at 390 Smiths Street. Can you send another unit and also a bus to our location?"

"Rodger 1506."

Andy got out of the car and carefully made her way over to where Sam was talking to the man.

"Freddie, this is my partner Officer McNally."

"She's pretty."

"Isn't she just. Listen Freddie, we have an ambulance on the way to check you over." Sam explained, waving Andy back a little.

"I don't need it. I'm fine."

"You walked in front of a Police car."

"Did I?"

"Yeah buddy, you did."

"I'm sorry Officer. I've had a very bad day. My wife left me and took the kids. She's gone to live with her mother in Quebec."

"That's rough dude. So why did you walk in front of the car?"

"She's my whole world Man. I gave her everything and asked for nothing. Why would she leave?"

"I don't know."

The ambulance arrived silently behind Freddie and Sam noticed they had turned their sirens off and was thankful. The last thing he needed was to spook Freddie further.

"She just upped and left." Freddie repeated.

"Freddie, these lovely people are here to take you to the hospital and make sure you're ok."

"I don't want to go."

"Freddie, I want this to be your choice, but I can make you if you refuse."

"So I have to go?"

"Yes."

"Ok I'll go."

"Good Man Freddie. And remember that everything happens for a reason."

Andy walked to Sams side as the Paramedics guided Freddie into the back of the ambulance.

"Everything happens for a reason?" She asked him.

"It does doesn't it?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Sam Swarek?"

"Come on, we better get to this disturbance." Sam said with a laugh.

They climbed back in the car and Sam fired up the engine and he set off for the scene they were originally headed for.

They arrived in minutes to find the scene quiet, but they could hear sirens not too far away. so they followed the sound until they arrived on the scene of chaos.

There was a car abandoned on a street, doors wide open, front end caved in and smoking and on the corner the squad car was parked, with a streetlight taking residence through the windscreen.

They turned around to see Chris and Dov leading a suspect in handcuffs out of the rear garden pulling bits of grass out of their hair.

"What happened?" Sam asked

"Genius here was breaking into the house down the way. Saw us coming and set off in the car, lost control on the corner and hit the lamp post. We pulled in, he managed to back the car up and get it around the corner before it died and the damn lamppost fell on our squad. We got out and he took off into the yard so we chased him and tackled him and took out a fence panel in the process.

Sam continued to ask questions about what had happened while Andy went to take a closer look at the squad while she was laughing at the comedy of it all.

She was looking at the light resting on the spiderweb of cracked glass that formed the windscreen and saw that the lamppost was pinning the drivers side door closed.

"Who was driving?" she asked.

"I was." Chris answered, shoving the suspect down onto the kerb while Sam went to go get the squad car.

"How the hell did you get out of the car?"

"I dived over the console."

* * *

Frank was surprised when he got to his desk and found two further holiday requests.

The one from Sam he was expecting, but the one from Gail he was not.

He looked at the dates and his suspicions were confirmed. Sam had requested the same dates as Andy and surprisingly so had Gail.

Confused, Frank signed off on all of their requests and started to rearrange the rota.

Once he had worked out the shift rotation to accommodate the days off he stuck the rota on the bulletin board where it was immediately swarmed by officers looking at their shifts for the next four weeks.

"Wait, why's Sammy off the same weekend McNally is?" Oliver asked, seeing 'Vacation' written by Sam's name.

"Why don't you ask him, he got back with McNally five minutes ago. I had assumed he was going to New York with McNally, but Peck handed me a vacation form too."

Oliver looked at Frank and went in search of Sam, finding him in the bullpen making himself a coffee.

"Sammy, what you got planned for next weekend? It's on the board you're taking vacation?"

"I am, in fact I need to talk to you about that. I need the house that weekend."

"What for?"

"I have company and I would prefer you not being there."

"Where the hell am I going to stay?"

"Stay at McNallys. She's in New York with Peck that weekend." Sam told him, popping his dimples at Oliver as he smiled, took his coffee and went to sit at his desk.

Jerry, who had been listening to the conversation, walked to Oliver's side.

"Do we believe him?"

"That he has company? Yes. That McNally is going to New York with Peck? Nope."

"We should follow him. See what he's up to."


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Aaaaaaannnnddddd... it's Friday! Enjoy!**

* * *

"So did Andy say why she wasn't coming tonight?" Traci asked a few days later after their shift, over drinks in the Penny.

"Yeah. She said she was tired and she wanted to get a head start packing for this weekend." Gail told her.

"That is a lame excuse." Dov complained

"It's what she said."

"It's what who said?" Chris asked joining the table.

"Andy. I think she's seeing someone." Traci said.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Dov asked while Gail tried not to choke on her drink.

"She doesn't come out any more, and when she does she doesn't stay long and is always distracted." Traci explained.

"I did see a hickey on her shoulder last week." Gail added.

"So what if she is seeing someone. She's a grown woman and deserves to have a little bit of fun." Dov said, defending Andy.

"He's obviously not someone she should be seeing because she won't tell us about him." Traci continued.

"How do you know it's a 'he'?" Dov asked, making Chris spit his drink over Gail.

* * *

Andy was waiting for Sam to pick her up from her apartment. They had agreed that they needed to go out to dinner and Andy had persuaded him to let her go home and change first, so now she was stood looking at her reflection, applying her nude lipstick. Her door buzzer went and she knew it would be Sam. She walked out of the room, picked up her jacket and bag and headed for the door.

She bolted down the stairs and opened the main door revealing Sam stood there wearing a black shirt, open at the collar and a pair of dark jeans. Andy could feel her heart fluttering when she saw him and saw his eyes darken as they took in her appearance.

She kissed him and walked past him to his truck where he opened the door and helped her in before climbing in the opposite side himself.

"I like that dress." Sam told her, indicating the short, revealing black dress she was wearing.

"I thought you might, that's why I came down rather than buzz you in." Andy told him with a small giggle.

Sam took her hand and kissed it before resting their entwined finger on the centre console.

"You look beautiful."

"So do you."

Sam drove Andy to a restaurant she had never been before, but had always wanted to try. She couldn't remember if she had told Sam she had wanted to try it. The queue of people waiting for a table was a long one, but Sam had forseen this and booked a table in advance.

No sooner had they settled at the bar to wait for the turn around of their table before they were told it was ready. The waiter led them through the intimate setting of couples sat at tables enjoying their meals and the company of each other.

The waiter stopped and showed them to a cozy corner of the restaurant, where prying eyes would have to work hard to see who was sat there. The waiter pulled out the seat for Andy and as she took it he pushed it under her before taking the napkin off her plate, shaking it out and placing it quickly and gracefully on her lap before passing her and Sam a menu and informing them of the specials and disappearing.

"Oh my God! Look at this food!" Andy groaned, her mouth watering as she read items such as roasted duck with plum confit served on a sweet potato puree.

"They have lamb. I haven't had lamb in years!"

Before they had completely made their minds up, their waiter appeared to take their order.

Andy furrowed her brow as she looked at the starters.

"Could I please get the griddled Haloumi?"

"Certainly, and for you, Sir?"

"I quite fancy the sound of the watercress soup."

"A fine choice, Sir. And your mains?"

"I quite like the sound of the chicken roulade." Andy said, looking over the menu again.

"Certainly. And for you, Sir?"

"I will have the herb crusted lamb please."

"And to drink?"

"A glass of the house white please."

"I'll have a glass of the red."

The waiter took the menu's off Sam and Andy and disappeared, returning moments later with their drinks.

Sam reached across the table and took Andy hand.

"Do you have any idea how happy I am right now?" he asked her.

"About as happy as I am." she told him, squeezing his hand.

Before they knew it, their starters had arrived and Sam reluctantly let go of Andy's hand.

"Is it good?" he asked her after she had taken a bite of her haloumi.

"Amazing." She speared a piece of cheese and leaned across the table to feed it to Sam.

"Mmmm. You weren't wrong!"

"What about your soup?"

"So good!" he told her, copying the manoeuvre Andy had and fed some of his soup to Andy across the table.

"So. so good!" Andy agreed, leaning in and taking the spoon in her mouth again, making Sam chuckle.

The continued to eat their starters, sharing them whenever the other saw fit to feed it to them. Sam, realising the awkward angle of the table and shifted his chair so he was sat next to Andy rather than opposite her.

When they had both eaten, Sam took Andy's hand again and began rubbing small circles with his thumb, making Andy shiver in the process.

The waiter reappeared and quickly removed their plates, asking if they wanted another drink as he did so. They both ordered another glass of wine.

"Is this where we say 'how was your day' and we laugh because our days were exactly the same?" Andy asked.

"I don't think our days were exactly the same. I did go and get the squad car, leaving you to laugh at Diaz's horrific driving skills."

"True you did."

"So your dad used to take you to New York for your birthday?" Sam asked. He had wanted to ask her since he had found out about the birthday tradition, but had never found the right time. He felt Andy try and pull her hand away from his, so he held on and slowed the circling with his thumb, knowing it would calm her down.

"Yeah, before my mom left. It was the only weekend of the year I could guarantee I would see him. We'd fly down late on the Friday, stay in a hotel, eat sundaes and visit the bakeries. He'd usually pre order some sugar cookies that spelled 'Happy Birthday' from this little bakery in Brooklyn. It closed down when I was 10 and I remember getting there and crying. We'd walk around Central Park and he'd buy me some new clothes and some jewellery and then I would wear them for the show." Andy explained in a rush, knowing Sam wouldn't stop asking her until she told him.

Sam raised his eyebrows at Andy as he took in what lengths her father went to on her birthday.

"And then it all stopped?"

"Yeah. My mom leaving kind of ruined the whole going away thing for us and he discovered alcohol before that. I mean the first few years he special ordered some earrings, but then nothing."

"Did it bother you?"

"It did at first. Just like the drinking did, but then I guess I learned to expect it. Why are we talking about this? We're on a date!" Andy laughed, but she could feel the usual tension that surrounded her birthday, as well as the pending feeling of dread slowly melt away now that she had told Sam why she didn't celebrate anymore.

Their food arrived and the delicious smell wafted to their noses. Sam let go of Andy's hand to pick up his cutlery.

"Ohmygosh! Thisissogood!" Andy moaned through a mouthful of food.

"Nice to know I'm at dinner with a lady." Sam joked, managing to keep his face straight while his eyes danced with laughter.

Andy graced him with a swift fly of the bird before spearing some of her meal onto her fork and feeding it to Sam.

"A lady wouldn't feed her other half."

"Not with the way you cook they wouldn't." Sam muttered before smiling and popping his dimples.

"Do you want to wear this fork?" Andy asked him with a laugh.

"I'm sorry, I completely misheard you then. I thought you said do you want to go somewhere to..."

Andy never got to hear the rest of the sentence as she took the opportunity to feed Sam some more of her chicken.

"You are right. That is good." Sam conceeded, pinching one more forkful before feeding Andy some of his lamb.

"That's lamb? It's so velvety and melt in the mouth and tender!"

"What did you expect?"

"Chewy and impossible to cut! At least that's always been my experience with it."

"Want some more?"

Andy nodded her consent.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: OK you lovely people! This is a few days early because I am going on Holiday and won't be able to post otherwise this week! :D**

 **See you all next Friday!**

* * *

Sam paid the taxi and climbed out of the cab after Andy. They had both drunk a little more than either of them had intended on drinking and had agreed that they would call for a taxi and Sam would pick the truck up on the way to work in the morning.

He caught up with Andy and snaked his arm around her waist. She immediately dropped her head to his shoulder and wrapped her own arm around him as they walked to the front door. She rummaged around in the small bag for her keys and let them in. Sam breezed past her, took her hand and pulled her towards him where she fell into his embrace. He placed his hands either side of her face and kissed her as passionately as he could, only letting her go when she pushed away, gasping for air.

He took her hand again and they walked side by side up the stairs to Andy's apartment. The tension got tighter with every step they took and before they reached the top of the stairs, they were both panting with desire from the 'accidental' touching.

Andy let them into the apartment and after one quick glance to check it was empty Andy pulled Sam to her and dropped his jacket to the floor before gripping the hem of his shirt and flinging it off, over his head and tossing it aside.

"One of us is still wearing far too many clothes." Sam growled, following Andy to her bedroom. He pushed the door to and reached for Andy. She allowed him to pull her closer to him and kiss the pulse point in her neck while he removed her jacket from her shoulders. Once he held the soft leather in his hands he tossed it onto the chaise and ran his hands up Andy's bare thighs.

"Why do you always have such cold hands?" she asked jumping at the contact, while Sam chuckled into her neck.

He ran his hands under the hem off the dress and slowly, kissing Andy's bare skin as he went, pulled it over her head and added it to the jacket.

"Now who's wearing too many clothes?" Andy asked as Sam picked her up and carried her to the bed.

* * *

"We are going to get into so much trouble for this!" Gail hissed as Traci picked the lock to the door.

"We will if we are caught, so shut the hell up!"

"If I can't go to New York because I am in a jail cell I will kill you!"

Traci straightened up and spun to look at Gail.

"Gail, there are no lights on so she's either asleep or out so if we're quiet no one will know we were here. Don't you want to find out for certain?"

"I guess, but if we get caught it was all your idea and I'm only here to try and talk you out of it."

"Whatever" Traci muttered as the lock clicked open.

They padded their way to the stairs and crept up them. After all they weren't supposed to be there in the middle of the night unless they were invited, which they weren't.

They reached the next door and Traci slipped the lock pickers into the lock while Gail watched out for the neighbours.

The lock clicked and the door swung into the apartment silently. Traci looked at Gail and placed her finger to her mouth, indicating that from there they were to make absolutely _zero_ noise.

They took their shoes off in the doorway, knowing that the floor was wood and their soles would make a noise. Gail went one way around the room towards the kitchen, looking for clues as to why Andy was less sociable than she usually was and picked Sams shirt off the top of the lamp where Andy had thrown it, while Traci headed the other way towards the bedroom door.

She could see a very soft light emitting from the bedroom and crept closer to look through the gap Sam had left.

She could hear the low grumble of a man talking and see two shadows against the wall. She shifted her position and could see Andy, head on a mans shoulder, tangled in the covers and her hair a mess. She watched as Andy lifted her head to kiss the man and covered her mouth in shock as she saw Sam bend down to kiss her.

She had stepped back and could only see the shadows of Andy and Sam. She saw Andy deepen the kiss before pushing herself up Sam's body and swing her leg up and over his lap before kissing him again.

Looking around for Gail, Traci backed as quick as she could to where Gail was quietly rummaging in a drawer.

She carefully navigated her way around the furniture in the living room and tapped Gail on the arm.

"We have to go." She mouthed, nodding at the door.

Gail looked at her horrified that Andy was in the apartment while they were snooping on her. She carefully closed the drawer and followed Traci. She made it halfway across the room to the front door when she stubbed her toe on the corner of the sofa, crashing into a lamp that was on the table next to it.

Traci looked between the bedroom where Sam and Andy were springing into action over the crashing noise and cry Gail had made as she fell and Gail who was still on the floor, trying and failing to get up. Traci rushed over to Gail and grabbed her arm as Sam burst out of the bedroom with his gun drawn. By the light of the bedroom, he could see the two figures on the floor.

"Don't move or I will shoot." he called out to the pair, as Andy made her way to the nearest light switch, her gun also drawn.

She flicked on the light and dropped her gun on the floor when she saw Gail and Traci.

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU TWO BETTER START EXPLAINING!" she shouted as Sam lowered his gun.

Traci and Gail looked at each other, before taking in Andy wearing her bathrobe and Sam dressed in just his jeans.

" _We_ need to start explaining?" Traci asked, looking from one to the other.

"I think this is pretty self explanatory." Sam told her in an even voice.

"What isn't is why you two are in my living room at two am!" Andy said.

"We were, well, Sam, please can you put a shirt on?" Traci started to explain, but couldn't form her thoughts knowing what Andy and Sam were about to do and seeing his half naked body in front of her to remind her. Gail picked it off the floor where it had landed when she knocked the lamp over, shook it free from shards and tossed it to Sam who put it on and walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

"I'm still waiting!" Traci sank into the sofa and Gail sat next to her.

"Well, we were all talking and we sort of figured that your excuse for not coming out tonight was a lame one and that you must be hiding something. Dov thought you were on drugs." Gail explained.

"Exactly. We figured it was a guy and you weren't telling us about it because seeing him was breaking _some_ sort or rule and we knew asking you about it was pointless, so..."

"So you decide to break into my place?"

"That was all my idea. Gail tried to stop me. I knew there would be something here that would tell us what you're hiding. I did _not_ expect to find Sam in your bedroom."

Andy looked between her friends and she could feel the heat in her eyes threatening tears.

"I can't believe you guys!"

"Andy?" Traci said as she made to get off the sofa.

"Don't, just don't. I don't care if you stay here, but I want you both gone by the time we get up."

She shook her head and went back to her bedroom, slamming the door shut as she did so.

"I think that went very well, don't you think Sam?" Gail asked, looking over her shoulder at Sam who was perched on a barstool at the island.

"Kiss my ass Casper, now if you don't mind I am going to go back to bed. Can I trust you to lock the door you picked on your way out?"


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: I had a good holiday, but I missed my writing!**

* * *

Traci and Gail sat on the sofa staring at Andy's bedroom door. They could hear Sam's deep voice as a murmur through the wall. He was obviously trying to calm Andy down and wasn't getting very far.

"What have we done?" Traci asked.

"What have _we_ done? I told you this was a bad idea! Question is how are we going to fix it?"

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"After their relationship was reported to the whiteshirts when they weren't breaking any rules leading to Andy being transferred, her life being made hell and our lives being made hell because we didn't know who we could trust and me having to persuade my Godfather to get her transferred back, Nope. Can't imagine why she would tell us she's sleeping with her fuck hot partner and former TO."

Traci looked at Gail as if she wanted to wrap her hands around her throat.

"It's not like it would be a surprise to anyone that they're together." she retorted.

"They could just want to see how they work as partners both on and off the job. My and Chris were together months before anyone found out."

The door opened and Sam's appeared in it.

"You two do know I can hear you right?"

"We do now!" Gail told him, her face straight.

"Well geniuses, Andy is on the bathroom floor and won't get up."

Traci leaped up from the sofa and pushed past Sam to the bathroom. She saw Andy, tears streaked down her face, huddled in her robe. Gail arrived behind her a moment later and shut the door on Sam.

"We're sorry. What we did came from a place of concern, but we know it was wrong. We should have never invaded you privacy like that." Traci apologised as she and Gail sat either side of her.

"No. You shouldn't."

"It came from a place of friendship and love." Gail said, her voice so sincere it mad Andy laugh.

"Can we talk about it?" Traci asked.

"If you want."

"When did this happen?"

They looked up as Sam came into the bathroom carrying four glasses and a bottle of scotch.

"If there is going to be a conversation about our relationship, I might as well be in it. Where'd we get to?" he said as he passed the glasses round, followed by the bottle and settling himself on the floor by the laundry hamper.

"When you two started hooking up." Gail

"The night I got transferred."

"I can't believe it! I knew you'd taken him off ice. You would have never lost that jar and then I told you to go for it and you were already doing, well. _it_!" Traci exclaimed.

"Wait, on ice? What happened between the two of you that Sam ended up on Ice? And why does Traci know about this and not me?" Gail demanded, feigning hurt.

Andy looked as Sam who shrugged his shoulders.

"We hooked up the night of that blackout." Andy admitted, her gaze never leaving Sams.

"WHAT?"

Traci waved a hand in front of Gail's face to stop her talking. She could fill her in what little she knew about that incident later.

"So you two hooked up the night you got transferred?"

"Yes. But it wasn't because I had been transferred. I guess we'd both had enough of dancing around it. Then I told him I had been transferred." Andy said with a smile.

"Yeah, that one was a bit of a shock." Sam laughed as he remembered seeing her cry as she told him.

"So this thing has been going on for months and you have told no one?"

"My dad knows." Andy said before looking at Gail and continuing "That spare ticket to New York was supposed to be Sams, but he has other plans he can't change."

"What plans?" Traci asked, raising her eyebrows in his direction.

"None that concern you."

"But you told you dad and not us?" Traci demanded.

"We didn't exactly _tell_ my dad. He let himself in and when we came through the door with our tongues down each others throats he kind of figured it out."

"He knew before then." Sam said so quiet the girls almost missed it.

"What do you mean he knew before then?"

"Now is not the time or the place. I'll tell you later." Sam said, the tops of his ears turning pink.

"You didn't ask his permission did you?" Traci snorted.

"No!"

"So is that it? Your dad is the only person who knows about this?"

"I think it's pretty safe to say the Chief knows too." Sam added, making Andy swallow her drink down the wrong hole.

"What did he say to you?" Gail asked curious. She knew her Godfather was a stickler for rules.

"He *cough* told *cough* us *cough..." Andy tried to say.

"He told us that he would look the other way with regards to our personal relationship if we taught at the academy once an intake class."

Traci and Gail burst out laughing.

"So why haven't you told anyone yet?"

Sam looked at Andy and mashed his face into a line, seeing the same expression back at him.

"I guess we didn't want the I told you so's, or the gloating."

"Or the questions." Sam said, pointedly.

"I do have a question for you Sam." Traci admitted.

Sam inhaled before he said "One more question and then I think we all need sleep as we are all working tomorrow."

"When was the last time you slept in your own bed?"

Sam cocked his eyebrow at her, confused.

"I heard Oliver bitching about your weekend plans. He said you hadn't been home in weeks, but he was expected to move out for the weekend because you want to entertain someone at the house."

"Wait, you're entertaining while we're gone?" Gail demanded.

"Gail, chill. It's been planned for months. It's ok."

"I'm babysitting my niece. I figured that doing it at my place would be better seen as there are 2 bedrooms and my sister knows where I live and I haven't moved. Happy now?"

"I am. I have to thank a small child for me going to see the Lion King on Broadway. I am still allowed to come aren't I?"

"Yes Gail, you can still come. And now I think it's time we got some sleep." Andy said, picking herself off the floor.


	32. Chapter 32

"Will you two get a move on! We're going to miss the flight!" Dylan called to Andy and Gail as they dragged their weekend bags through the bull pen.

"We're coming!" Gail snapped back as they bundled themselves out of the front door and into reception.

"Have you got everything?"

"I think so." Andy replied.

"Passports?" he asked.

Andy and Gail held up their passports and put them into their left jacket pockets.

"Tickets?"

Gail looked at Andy who was patting down her pockets.

Andy snapped her head up and looked at Gail before rushing back into the bullpen. She saw Sam perched against her desk, his arms and legs crossed holding the plane tickets in his hand. She ran up to him, skidded to a stop, placing a hand on Sam's chest to stop herself from taking him out. She gripped the tickets out of his hand and pushed off his chest before barrelling her way back to reception. She got there to find Dylan and Gail had gone to the car to put the bags in and were waiting for her.

She climbed into the passenger seat and Dylan gunned the car and headed for the airport.

* * *

"Sammy, you coming to the Penny for a drink tonight?" Oliver called as he saw Sam look for an incident report on Andy's desk as she and Gail made their way to the front door. He knew they were running late because he and Andy had sneaked into the interview room and said goodbye for the weekend.

"No, I have plans this weekend remember." he said, before his hands passed over the plane tickets Andy would no doubt be looking for. He picked them up and dug his phone out of his pocket, crossing his arms and leaning against the desk, waiting for the phone call that was sure to come.

He was surprised when Andy ran back in to the room and towards him. He laughed when she skidded and used his body to slow down her momentum and felt the increase of pressure as she ran back out the door she had just come in.

"Are you ever going to tell me what your plans are?"

"Nope."

"What about where you've been spending most of your nights?"

"Nope!" Sam repeated, grinning and popping his dimples.

Jerry entered the bullpen from the office he shared with the detectives and walked around the outskirts of the room. He was clearly on the phone and not enjoying the conversation. He saw Sam and Oliver and diverted his course towards them.

He pulled the receiver away from his ear and covered the microphone with his hand.

"Poker?"

"I'm in."

"Can we do next weekend? I've got plans." Sam suggested.

Jerry looked at him while Sam and Oliver could clearly hear the person on the phone getting angrier by the second.

"Sure, we can do that." Jerry said, shrugging his shoulders before returning to his phone call.

"And on that note, it's time I wasn't here." Sam said, pulling on of the fasteners to his vest loose and heading to the locker room with Oliver watching his back.

* * *

Half an hour later Sam pulled up at his house, not knowing down the street Oliver and Jerry had pulled up too. He climbed out of the truck and walked up the steps to his front door. It felt like a lifetime since he was last here. He knew he had twenty minutes before Sarah would arrive with Katie and mentally ran over the things he had to do before then: Change the bedding, place the fire guard, put some food on, locate his secret stash of Disney DVD's and find Katie's favourite blanket.

He slipped his key into the lock, hoping Oliver had held up his end of the deal and left the place tidy.

He slipped in the door, flipped the lock and pushed it to. A quick look around and he was satisfied that it was clean and he wouldn't have to sort it. He strolled into the bedroom and saw Oliver had stripped the bed down and left some clean sheets on the end.

There was a note pinned to the sheets:

 _'You said you were entertaining, but just in case you are your usual grumpy self I've half changed the sheets.'_

Sam laughed, grabbed the note and shoved it in his pocket before picking up the sheets. It took him five minutes to make the bed before moving onto his next task.

He descended the stairs into his cellar, which he used as storage for things that didn't get used very often, like the fire guard Sarah had given him the time Katie had spent three hours sat in front of the fire in his living room watching it transfixed. He moved a couple of boxes Oliver had moved in and found it tucked in a corner. He carefully carried it back to the living room and set it in down. He lit a fire, even though it wasn't overly cold and placed the clear screen in front of it.

Moving on, Sam headed to the kitchen and opened the cupboard that contained his pans, except, while he'd been away, Oliver had reorganised. He looked through all his cupboards trying to find the items he wanted and by the time he had put the pan of pasta on the stove he heard a soft knock at the door.

* * *

"Jerry, get off the phone. He's leaving!" Oliver hissed.

"Look, I have to go. I'm about to go on a stakeout. I'll call you later."

Jerry dialled Frank who was watching out for Sam in the locker room. He put the phone on loudspeaker so Oliver could hear.

"He's changing. You have about five minutes to get into position."

Jerry hung up and he and Oliver made their way out to Oliver's car. They had agreed it was less conspicuous than Jerry's.

They moved so they could see Sam's truck and waited until they saw him leave through the Sally Port door. They ducked down so he wouldn't see them and waited until he was a reasonable distance in front of them. They followed him to the store and then he went directly home.

They had been sat maybe 15 minutes when they saw a black SUV pull up outside Sam's place and a pretty brunette got out of the driver's seat.

"Well that's not McNally." Oliver said as Jerry sat in stunned silence. Neither of them noticed that their phones were ringing.

They watched as the brunette opened the back door and leaned in. Both of their jaws dropped when she pulled a small girl out of the car and set her down on the pavement. The girl seemed to know where she was as she ran up Sam's walkway and knocked on the door while the woman rummaged in the trunk of the car for a bag.

Sam opened the door and the girl immediately jumped into Sam's arms.

They saw the woman haul the bag out of the car and walk up to join Sam, kissing him on the cheek as she passed him.


	33. Chapter 33

Jerry regained his composure first and pulled out his phone. He saw he had six missed calls from Frank and two from Noelle. He dialled Frank's number, cursing when he hit the wrong key by mistake. Frank answered on the second ring and Jerry put it on loudspeaker.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Frank demanded.

"We were following Sam."

"Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"We were a little stunned by what we saw."

"I take it McNally isn't going to New York?"

"Who we saw was not McNally."

"Does Sammy have a kid?" Oliver asked, unable to process what he had just seen.

"Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"A woman just pulled up and the kid practically jumped on Sam."

"License plate?" Noelle asked.

"We said we'd find out what he was doing this weekend, not abuse the system at work." Oliver countered

"Crap, she's coming out. _Alone_ "

"Wait, she's leaving a child with Sam?"

"A toddler by the look of her."

"Do we keep watching?"

"Well we know he's got a kid for the weekend and McNally is on her way to New York with Peck." Frank said before hanging up.

"Sammy has a kid?!" Oliver muttered, still not believing it.

"Question is, does Andy know?"

* * *

Sam threw the towel he was drying his hands with onto the counter and went to answer the door. He knew it would be Katie because the knock was so soft, so when he pulled the door towards him, he knelt down so he could catch her in time as she launched herself on him. He stood up with Katie in his arms and watched as his sister walked up the path carrying Katie's bag.

He smiled at her - he hadn't seen her in months, and Sarah returned it while Katie stuck her finger in his dimple.

"Thanks for doing this Sam." She said as she reached the door.

"Not a problem."

Sarah kissed his cheek as she wriggled past him and Katie and Sam closed the door behind her. She dropped the bag in the hallway and turned to face Sam.

"So bedtime is eight thirty, she's allergic to nuts and ginger and is fully potty trained."

"Good to know! You staying for tea?"

"No. I've got to get going. Her eppi-pen is in the bag in case something happens. Please keep it with you and I'm on my cell if you need me."

Sam stepped to the side to allow Sarah to leave and stood in the doorway waving goodbye with Katie. Once the SUV had disappeared off the street Sam closed the door and put Katie down on the ground.

"What about you Katie? You hungry?"

Katie nodded and Sam took her hand and led her to the kitchen where the pan of pasta was bubbling away.

"What do you want?"

"Mac and Cheese pwease."

"With little sausages in it?"

Katie smiled showing all of her teeth and nodded her head.

"And then how about you and me watch a movie?" Sam asked.

"Roar!" Was Katies answer, followed by a giggle.

"Roar?"

"Roar!" Katie roared again, this time a little louder.

"Roars it is." Sam smiled , stirring the pasta as Katie climbed onto a chair at the table.

* * *

"So how is the sex?" Gail asked as she sipped Champagne on the flight.

"GAIL!"

"What? Give a girl a break! I've not been getting any since Chris and I split up and I've always said Sam looks like he's a guy who knows what he's doing! So come on, get me through this drought with some little details!"

Andy raised her eyebrows at Gail, who pouted in return.

"Fine! The sex is, well, incredible." Andy finally conceded, reaching for her own glass of Champagne.

"Better than Detective Douchwhore?"

Gail laughed as Andy's smile gave her the answer she was looking for.

"So tell me what happened the night of the blackout. Traci told me she'd fill me in on details and never did."

"I was in shock, feeling a little abandoned by Luke and I don't know, I just set off walking and found myself at Sams. I knocked on the door and I guess I just needed him."

"So what, you jumped him?"

"More like shoved him against a wall and stuck my tongue in his mouth."

"And you and he got jinky with it?"

"We made it to his bedroom and then the lights came on. I hadn't thought of Luke since I turned up on Sams doorstep but when he tried to call me when Sam was turning stuff off what I'd done came crashing down and I bailed."

"Andy McNally, you little whore!"

"Thank's Gail."

"One more and I'll quit with the questions."

"I'm sure you've got more than one burning question?"

"Of course I do, but I know when not to push my luck!"

"Go on then."

"When and how did you dad find out?"

"Sam just said that they talked when he picked my dad up from the hospital."

"And?"

"And nothing, Sam wouldn't tell me the rest."

"I knew you two would hook up since I saw the pair of you in the parking lot the night of our second shift."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, fasten your trays and return your seats to the upright position as we prepare for our descent into JFK."

* * *

"Uncie Tham!" Katie called from the front room as Sam washed up the pans and plates from tea.

"What's up?"

"Where's roar?

Sam dropped the plate he had just cleaned into the drainer and dried his hands before heading into the living room to find Katie looking at his (and Olivers) pile of DVD's.

"Want me to go get it while you get comfy on the sofa?" Sam asked, pulling the blanket he knew Katie loved from the storage underneath the smaller one and placing it down for her to crawl onto.

Katie nodded and lifted her arms in the air. Sam picked her up and placed her on the blanket before heading to his bedroom closet and pulling The Lion King from the stash of movies he kept there for her.

When he got back to the front room, Katie had migrated to the floor and was making herself comfy in a picnic style. He put the movie on and went to finish washing up. When he was done he pulled a packet of chocolate buttons out of the fruit bowl where he'd hidden them and went to join Katie on the floor of the sitting room, opening the buttons so she could help herself.

When the end credits of the movie rolled he could see Katie was fighting to stay awake, so he picked her up, carried her to the spare room, helped her into her pyjamas and into bed before cleaning up the mess they had made on the living room floor. As he dropped the blanket on the sofa his phone pinged. Smiling, he knew it would be a text from Andy.

 _'Arrived safe. The hotel is AMAZING! Wish you were here xx'_

 _'I wish I was too! Katies already had me watch The Lion King. Won't be as good as the show tomorrow though! xx'_

 _'Night Sam x'_

 _'Night x'_

* * *

 **A/N: Just so you all know - my brother is back in the Hospital after another episode that had me talking to the police for over 2 hours to try and find him.**

 **I am not doing too well, but my writing is keeping me somewhat sane (even if the laptop isn't - it's ancient and slow as hell!)**


	34. Chapter 34

Oliver and Jerry pulled up outside Sam's place the following morning and parked in the same spot they had the previous night.

"So why are we here again?" Oliver asked as he stuffed a breakfast burritto in his mouth.

"Because the mystery woman left the kid with Sam. Alone. They clearly aren't an item or she would have stayed, right?"

"Right."

"So there's still a chance McNally could turn up."

"Even though her facebook feed from last night clearly shows her and Peck are living it up in the big apple?"

"They could have been taken any time!"

"Yeah, because McNally and Peck have a habit of going on girly weekends away."

"Trust me on this one Ollie, something fishy is going on here."

* * *

"Blueberry pancakes?" Sam asked as he carried Katie to the kitchen for breakfast.

"No." Katie replied with a giggle.

"Banana pancakes?" Sam asked.

"No."

"Cereal?"

Katie shook her head, her cheeky smile plastered over her face.

"I know. Pancakes with maple syrup and yoghurt?" Sam asked narrowing his eyes at Katie.

Katie nodded her head making Sam laugh.

"Wanna help me make them?" he asked her, pulling a chair towards the counter. Katie ran over to the chair and climbed up while Sam pulled everything he would need for the pancakes out of the cupboards.

Twenty minutes later, they each sat with a small stack of pancakes in front of each of them.

"What do you want to do today?"

Katie shrugged her shoulders as she ate her breakfast, smearing the syrup and yoghurt over her face and dropping piece of pancake on the floor.

"It's my friend Andy's birthday today. Shall we make her something?" Sam asked, hit with sudden inspiration.

Katie looked at him ponderingly before agreeing.

"What shall we make?"

"Cookies!"

"I was hoping you'd say that!"

* * *

Andy woke early the Saturday morning to Gail snoring softly, passed out on her front beside her. She climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.

When she was showered and dressed she heard her phone ping from the night stand. She picked it up to find she had a missed call and two text messages.

The missed call was from her dad and so was one of the messages which was wishing her a happy birthday. The second message was from Dylan, also wishing her a happy birthday.

Gail flipped her body over in the bed and rubbed her nose with a sleepy hand.

"What time is it?" she groaned.

"Little after eight."

"How are you awake at this time?"

"The prospect of shopping was far too appealing!"

"Shopping?!" Gail asked confused.

"Yes Gail, shopping. We discussed this weekend on the plane over here. We said shopping this morning, sights early afternoon before getting ready for dinner and the show later."

"Oh yeah. Let me get up and then we can go for breakfast."

* * *

Sam was around the store with Katie in a cart ticking items off the shopping list he had made for the cookies as, when he checked, he had nothing in.

"What else do we need?" he asked her.

"Orange"

"Orange?"

"Yesh!"

"You telling me you want an _orange_?"

"Yesh Pwease!"

"Alright. I'll get you some oranges."

"And 'nanas."

"And some bananas."

Sam diverted the cart down the fruit section of the store and saw Katie's eyes light up at the amount of fruit available.

"Ap-ple" She said pointing at them.

"We'll get you some oranges and 'nanas. I've got apples at home." Sam told her, picking up a packet of oranges and putting them in the cart.

He picked up a lemon and added it to the oranges before leaving the fruit and veg section and continuing his shopping, chatting nonsense to Katie as he did, slowing sensing that he was being followed.

* * *

"What's up?" Gail asked as they waited for their breakfast.

"I haven't heard from Sam."

"It's still early. Give him time."

"I know, but I've had a text from Traci, Dov, Chris, Oliver, Frank and even Jerry."

"He's probably got his hands full. How old's his niece?"

"Three."

"Sam Swarek looking after a three year old. She probably has him hog tied and gagged while running around the house!"

Andy laughed at the absurd image Gail was giving her.

"So shopping?" Andy asked, tossing her phone on the table.

"Of course. You can't come to New York without shopping!"

"Where'd you want to start?"

* * *

Oliver followed Sam to the store, hiding every time Sam looked as if he were going to turn around.

He watched as Sam picked up a specific list of things and added them to the cart and laughed quietly as his listened to their conversation.

He was surprised by how at ease Sam seemed to be with this child and realised there was more to his friend than he thought!

Aisle by aisle Oliver followed Sam around the store until he came to the last one. When he turned the corner, Sam, the cart and Katie were gone, leaving Oliver looking around in a wild panic.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled Jerry.

"I've lost him!" He said in a hushed whisper, still eyeing up the aisles.

"What do you mean you've lost him?" Jerry asked.

"I turned the corner and _poof_ vanished."

Oliver turned to go back up the aisles he was in and immediately walked into a cart. He looked up to see a less than impressed Sam starting at him.

"Never mind. I found him." Oliver told Jerry, pretending to hang up the phone.

* * *

Sam could feel someones eyes on him so he went to to the toiletries department and used the mirrors to determine who it was. He didn't want Katie to get caught up with some of the bad guys he'd put away.

Glancing in the mirror he saw someone disappear very quickly from view and recognised the profile immediately.

"So much to learn my friend!" Sam muttered before he headed off to finish his shopping.

He wondered the aisles, now fully aware of Oliver following him. He waited patiently for his moment and found it in the last aisle. He glanced in the mirrored shelf edging and saw Oliver duck out of sight and took the chance to duck into a cut through between the two aisles telling a giggling Katie to be quiet.

He speed walked up the aisle and around the end to come back down the aisle he had just been in, right behind Oliver.

"Never mind. I found him."

"Talk. Now." Sam said, his face straight. Oliver could tell he wasn't amused, but had to laugh as Katie looked at him with the same stern expression.

"Talk? About what?" Oliver asked, feigning innocence, knowing it was too late for the 'fancy meeting your here' line.

"How about you and Jerry invading my privacy?"

"What? We didn't"

"Yes you did. You followed me home last night and here this morning. Don't deny it Oliver, I caught you remember!"

"You took vacation time. You never take vacation time. We thought you might have sneaked away with McNally to New York. Then we saw, well this and decided she'd stayed here with you."

"What do you think Katie? Do you think he's telling the truth?" Sam asked.

Katie looked at Oliver, cocked her head and nodded.

"Me too. Now are you going to come out with the rest of it so Jerry can get the first hand account?" Sam asked, nodding at the phone.

"Ask him who the kid is?" Sam heard Jerry screech from the phone.

"Is McNally actually in New York?" Oliver asked, ignoring Jerry.

"As far as I'm aware."

"Have you spoken to her? Wished her a happy birthday?"

Sam's face fell as he realised he had forgotten to send Andy a message that morning. He would just have to send her a picture of the cookies later.

"You forgot about her birthday didn't you?"

"No. I knew. Just been busy."

"Which brings me back to Jerry's question."

"Finally!" Jerry shouted down the phone line.

"This is Katie. Katie this is Oliver. Say hi!" Sam said, waving between them.

"Hi Mover!" Katie said, trying to tuck her face into Sam's side, but not getting anywhere because she was fastened in to the cart.

"Hi Katie. And how do you know Sam?"

Katie's only response was a confused look, so Oliver turned to Sam and raised his eyebrow. Sam steered the cart around Oliver and walked down the aisle towards the cash desk. While Oliver had been talking to Katie, he had seen the time on the clock above the door and realised, for his plan to work that they needed to get on.

"My niece Ol. Katie is my niece and she's spending the weekend with me while Sarah is out of town." Sam told Oliver as he fell into step beside the cart.

"Wait? That was Sarah? She definately got the better end of the gene pool!"

"Katie, hit him will you!"

Katie made a fist with her tiny hand and punched Oliver in the arm.

"OW!" He exclaimed, rubbing the spot Katie had hit.

Sam pulled the trolley up to the till and started unloading it on to the conveyor.

"Make yourself useful and bag?" Sam suggested to Oliver.

Between the two of them they bagged the groceries and made it back out to Sams truck.

"Now that you know what I am doing, _and_ who I am doing it with there is no need for you or the others for that matter, to be following me."


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: I am so sorry I haven't been around these last few weeks and that this chapter is a little short. There have been some issues with my brother escaping the hospital and trying to break my door down because we weren't in and cutting his arm before resting on my car so then I had to wash the blood off it... and thank you to all of you who have offered your support. It is really appreciated!**

 **Please stick with me - I haven't forgotten about this fic (or any of my others)!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Mx**

* * *

"Oh my God this place is _gorgeous_!" Gail squealed as she ran around the shop in excitement, looking at the rows of clothes hanging neatly in their places.

"This all looks really expensive!" Andy pointed out hesitantly. She had some spending money, but from the look of the shop, she was likely to spend it all if she bought anything in here.

Andy meant to grab the tag of the nearest item of clothing to her, but her hand brushed against the fabric.

"It's so soft!" She exclaimed in a breathless whisper.

"I know!" Gail agreed. "Let's try some things on!"

Gail walked around the shop grabbing as many clothes as she could hold while Andy set off at a more sedate pace around the shop. She stopped in front of a little black dress and picked it off the rail, letting the silky soft fabric caress her fingers. It was short, but not too short and it had a fitted bodice type top to it. she gasped as she caught a glance at the price and placed it immediately back down on the rail.

"Andy! Come on! Don't let Sam ruin your birthday! Pick clothes up and try them on! That's all part of the fun of shopping!" Gail dumped the pile of clothes onto a chair by the door, walked over to Andy, picked the dress up off the rail, shoved it into her chest, took her arm and escorted her to the changing room.

"We aren't leaving here until you try something on."

"It looks like we aren't leaving here for a while with that pile for you to try on!"

"This? Easy, besides, I picked up clothes for both of us!"

"You're a little bossy when you shop." Andy grumbled, walking into the changing rooms, noticing as she did that they were spacious, bright and well adorned with decorations. She was only a little shocked when Gail walked in behind her.

"I figured that it would save time if we shared, then we can just throw clothes at each other!"

"Good thinking. That way I can _strangle_ you with them all." Andy said with a laugh as she placed the black dress down on the fluffy, comfy looking chaise and removing her top.

"You wouldn't want to that to me! You'd be all alone at the theatre." Gail said, sliding her jeans down her long slender legs while pulling a dress over her head.

Once she had fastened the dress she looked in the mirror and saw Andy staring at her own reflection next to her. Gail noticed that Andy was touching the dress.

"It looks good on you. Pair it with some killer heels and you'll have all the men eating out the palm of your hand." she told Andy, envious of the way the dress fitted her figure perfectly. The sweetheart neckline showed off the hint of a cleavage, while the hem rested mid thigh. The soft, matt fabric clinging to her in all the right places.

"I'm not so sure." Andy said, reaching for the hem.

* * *

"Here Katie, mix this!" Sam a bowl with an egg and a whisk in front of her at the table.

While he watched her beat the egg, Sam creamed the butter and sugar until it was ready then he sat down at the table next to her. He placed the bowl he was using on the table and pulled the bowl with the flour towards him. He pulled Katie onto his lap and let her hold the spoon he had been using. He carefully poured some egg into the mixture and helped her beat it in, before adding flour and showing her how to fold it in. He repeated this until all of the egg and flour were gone and they were left with a soft ball of dough.

Katie's hand slipped on the spoon and she got some mixture stuck to her hand.

"Look Uncie Tham!" she cried, holding her hand up to show him. He leaned forward and sucked the mixture off her hand "EWWW!" she squealed, wriggling off Sam's knee. He got up and wandered to the counter where he left the cling film. He dropped the dough into the centre of it, wrapped it up and put it in the fridge.

"So what do you want to do for an hour?" he asked her.

He got a shrug in response.

"Want to help me sort out the cutters?"

Katie smiled her toothy grin and climbed back onto her chair. Sam tipped the box of cookie cutters he had acquired from Sarah and hidden from Oliver onto the table. While Katie looked through them, Sam wiped the stringy, dry bits of dough out of the bowl and into the bin before putting everything in the dishwasher. By the time he had done, Katie had selected a unicorn, crown, dolphin and skull and cross bones cutters. He laughed at her eclectic choice and picked out the cutters he wanted to use.

"Know what Katie?"

"What?"

"We forgot to put the flavouring in!" Sam said.

"Ithing!"

"You are absolutely right. We can flavour the icing."

"Nana!"

"You want a 'nana?"

Katie nodded and Sam grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl. He carefully peeled it and broke it into pieces.

* * *

"So where do you want to go next?" Gail asked as she put her own clothes back on.

"I know after that epic clothing marathon we don't have long left of shopping time, but I would like to go to Honora pearls."

Gail arched an eyebrow at Andy.

"Pearls? You?"

"Yes Gail, I quite like pearls, but only from Honora."

"Well let's go then. Actually, you go, I need to apologise for taking so long in here."


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: I know! I know! It's been a while. I have just been exhausted with everything going on with my brother (who is now back out of hospital). There have been one or two incidents that have taken it out of me.**

 **In the space of a week and a half, I have spent the night in A & E with my Dad – he's still in hospital and tomorrow marks 2 weeks, Spent last Friday night in A & E with my brother having a suspected broken hand and then the following night another overnight trip to A & E as my brother was experiencing sudden chest pains...**

 **... as you can probably tell, I am stressed up to the eyeballs and it's hard enough finding time to visit my dad, let alone sit at the computer and write!**

 **But here is the next chapter – and this did happen between me and my 3 year old nephew!**

* * *

"Yeah Sarah, We're fine." Sam said holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder and rummaging in his back pocket for a piece of paper.

He didn't find one and it took him a couple of seconds to realise that he had put a twenty dollar bill in the pocket of his jeans. It took a couple more seconds to realise it was missing.

"Damn!" he exclaimed, patting down all of his other pockets.

"Sammy? What's wrong?" Sarah asked him.

"I put $20 in my jeans this morning and now I can't find it. I must have dropped it at the shop."

"Sam?"

"I can't have dropped it in the shop. I didn't take anything out of that pocket."

"Sam?!"

"I was going to buy Katie a new toy with that."

"SAM!"

"What?"

"Ask your niece what she's done with it." Sarah told him, laughing.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Your angel faced niece has probably pick pocketed you."

"Sar, I'm a cop. I'm sure I'd feel her take a folded up note out of my back pocket. Especially one that's at the bottom of it."

"She took my phone out of my pocket last week. I didn't feel a thing. First I knew of it was when she dropped it."

Sam eyed Katie up quizzically. She was looking at him with wide eyes and putting her tumbler of juice back on the coffee table.

"Katie, did you go in my pocket?"

She continued looking at Sam with a wide eyed blank expression.

"Thanks for the tip. I am going to interrogate my niece now. I'll call you later."

* * *

"I haven't been here in years!" Andy exclaimed as she and Gail looked around the pearls on display.

"I have been through your entire jewellery collection and I didn't see any pearls. If I had I would have discovered this place sooner." Gail said, peering into the cabinets holding rows upon rows of precious, colourful pearls.

"I had to sell them when things got tough with my dad." Andy admitted. She felt a sudden sharp pang of pain as she remembered the day she had to pawn all of her pearls to make sure that she had a roof over her head.

Gail didn't say anything, but continued to browse the store, watching Andy to make sure that she was ok.

Andy followed, looking at the pearls. Her dad had given her some money so that she could get something, but she couldn't decide what she should get. She wasn't a necklace wearing person and pearl rings looked a little odd.

She had followed Gail around the entire shop, thinking she might go get the dress she had liked, when she saw the perfect pair of earrings. They were silver and dangly, with a long ultra thin bar holding the shiny slate grey pearl to the finding.

"Excuse me?" Andy called to the attendant.

Gail was curious over what Andy had found and slowly migrated over too.

"Can I help you ma'am?"

"Yes. Please can I see that pair of grey dangly ones please?"

"Certainly."

The shop assistant opened the cabinet and pulled the pair of earrings out and set them gently on top of the glass cabinet.

"Ooo. They're pretty!" Gail squealed in a whisper.

Andy ignored her and picked up one of the earrings. She wanted to see how heavy they felt and how they would move when they were in her ears. She was surprised when the earring felt like it had no weight to it.

She jingled the earring and it swung freely and smoothly from the finding.

Finally she handed it to the attendant who fastened it to a piece of clear plastic which Andy held up to her ear before looking in a mirror.

"Looking good Andy. Do your hair right and Sam will lose his mind."

Andy couldn't tear her eyes away from the pearls and begrudgingly handed the plastic back to the sales assistant when Gail pointed out they were close to eating into their sightseeing time.

Andy objected when Gail paid extra to have the pearls delivered to the hotel, but relented when she pointed out she would then have at least one thing to open for her birthday.

* * *

Sam opened the oven door and checked on the cookies. They were a nice shade of golden brown.

He turned the oven off and placed the tray on the hob to allow them to cool enough before putting them on a rack to ice.

He was also debating with himself how to get the truth out of a three year old.

"All gone!" Katie announced as she came into the kitchen from the living room and tipping her tumbler up.

"I can see that."

Sam watched as Katie reached up on her tiptoes and put it on the counter top.

"Katie, did you take something out of Uncle Sammy's pocket?"

"No-oh" She replied in a sing song voice.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked her again, cocking his eyebrow.

Katie tilted her head and looked at him. She clearly hadn't understood the question.

"Did you go in my pocket?"

"No. Mummy did it."

Sam shook his head. Sarah was right. He had been expertly pick-pocketed by a three year old, who then had the audacity to blame her absent parent.

"Where is it?" he asked

"Mummy did it." Katie repeated.

Sam gave up. He would find the cash eventually, or Katie would.


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: My dad spent a grand total of 5 weeks in the hospital, ended up with a DVT and had to take Warfarin - but he is ok now. My brother has been out and seems to be doing alright this time - still has his ups and down, but there have been fewer incidents :D**

 **I must apologise about my extended leave - I have recently been diagnosed with depression myself** **and have dealing with it (I'm fine) I am trying to get back into writing, but it will be slow going. I also have tendonitis in 3 tendons of my right hand which can't be treated as it might aggravate the others, which makes doing most things painful!**

 **AND - yes - my gorgeous 3 year old nephew picked my pocket and then blamed it on his absent mother! He has also taken to repeating every single word I say when we are baking or gardening or watching TV or when he's following me around the house ignoring his father!**

* * *

Gail and Andy poured over the map as they walked down the street. They got to an intersection and stopped.

"Which way is it?" Andy asked, looking to her right and back to the map.

"I don't know. This map doesn't make any sense!" Gail replied, exasperated.

Andy noticed a man stood behind them chuckling. As he took a step closer to them, Andy instinctively gripped her bag tighter and hit Gail's arm. Gail looked up from the map to see what Andy wanted.

"HEY!" she shouted as the man leaned forward and took the map out of her hands.

"Only trying to help miss" he replied, turning the map around and handing it back to her.

"Oh, thanks!"

"Any time, just next time, don't scream down my ear hole." The man said, before crossing the intersection and scratching the inside of his ear with his finger nail.

Andy and Gail returned their attention to the map and found they had been walking in the wrong direction for the best part of twenty minutes.

"TAXI!" Gail and Andy shouted at the same time, raising their hands in the air.

A yellow cab screeched to a halt in front of them and they climbed into the back of it, giggling.

"Where to Ladies?"

"Central Park!" Andy cried at the same time Gail shouted "Statue of Liberty!"

"Tourists?"

"Are we that obvious?"

* * *

"Katie, what did you do with the money in Uncle Sam's pocket?"

"Mommy took it."

"I know, but where did mommy put it?"

"Mommy did it."

Sam was about to ask Katie about the money again when a shrill ring came from the kitchen.

Realising that he was never going to get a straight answer out of Katie, Sam got to his feet and went to the kitchen to remove the cookies from the oven with Katie on his heels.

"Uncle Sam take cookies out of the oven. Burney hot!" she said, watching as Sam put gloves on his hands, opened the oven door and pulled the tray of browned cookies out of the oven and placed them on the top of the counter.

"Now what do we do with them?"

"I-thing."

"Not yet. They need to cool or the icing will melt."

"Cool or the i-thing will melt." Katie repeated.

"That's right, but e can get everything together can't we?" Sam asked her.

"Yes!"

Sam rummaged through his drawers until he found the piping tube and nozzle set he had bought when he and Katie first started baking together. he found it and gave it to her and Katie reached on her tiptoes to put it on the table.

Then Sam got the bowl they had used to make the cookies in, got the scales back out and weighed the icing before pouring the water in and mixing it. He poured some flavour into the icing.

"Do you want to pick some colours?"he asked her.

"Blue."

"And?"

"Pink"

"Any more?"

"Lellow!"

Sam picked the blue, pink and yellow food colours out of the cupboard and separated the icing into three bowls.

"I want to mix it!" Katie said, reaching for the bowl.

Sam gave her the spoon and watched as she attempted to mix the colouring in.

"Finished!" Katie announced, proud of herself.

Sam chuckled as the icing was still a marble effect. He felt something wet hit his elbow. When he looked down, he saw a smudge of icing.

He lifted his elbow and tried to lick the icing off, but couldn't quite reach.

"I can't reach it Katie, do you want to get it off?"

Katie climbed on the chair so she could reach Sam's elbow. He laughed as she brought her mouth to the icing and licked. He laughed harder when he realised she had completely missed the icing.

"Cookies cool yet?"

"Not yet."

* * *

"OH MY GOD! THIS IS SO HIGH UP!" Gail shouted over the wind as she and Andy stood at the top of the Statue of Liberty. The height was making her a little nervous.

"Yeah, but the view is amazing!"

"So take a picture and let's get out of here!"

Andy shot Gail a dirty look. It was her idea to climb up.

"Wimp!" Andy shot at Gail, but moved away from the railing and towards the steps, Gail not far behind her.

Andy smiled as she heard the dull twang of shoes hitting the metal steps.

"I am not a wimp, I just didn't like the height." Gail protested.

"Don't worry, what happens in New York, stays in New York."

Andy jumped and slipped down a step as she felt the buzz of her phone in her pocket. regaining her balance, she decided it would be safer to look at the incoming message when she was back on solid ground.

"You ok?" Gail asked, trying to catch Andy before she fell any further.

"I'm fine."

Andy rubbed her arm where she had hit it against the cold, metal handrail. She took a deep breath in and continued down the steps.

Once She and Gail were at the bottom of the steps, Andy remembered the message that had caused her to lose her footing. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened the message.

It was from Sam.

She was looking at the words 'Happy Birthday', each letter its own cookie and iced in ridiculous shades of blue, pink and yellow.

Was amused Andy most was, in the top of the picture, a small arm slyly reaching for one of the 'p' cookies in Happy.

She showed Gail the photograph.

"That man is a God. You better keep hold of him! Come on. Let's go check out Central Park!"

"Do you know how big Central Park is?"

"I just want to see the lake where they Ice Skate."

"Gail, It's summer. There won't be any Ice Skating going on."

"Just shut it and find a cab."

* * *

Sam saw Katie trying to sneak a cookie as he took the picture. Once he had pressed send, he reached for the cookie Katie wanted, and handed it to her.

"What do you want to do now?" he asked, glancing at the clock and noticing it was late afternoon.

"Jungle Book!"

"Jungle Book?"

"Please."

"You go get comfy and I'll go find it for you."

Sam went to the secret stash and looked through it for the movie. He found it and returned to the front room to find Katie fast asleep curled up on the blankets on the floor.

Taking the opportunity of peace and quiet, Sam headed to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess of their baking escapade.

He let Katie sleep for an hour before waking her up and putting the movie on.

"Hot Dogs for tea?" he asked when Katie was fully awake.

He went to the kitchen to start cooking and felt his phone ping.

He opened it to see a picture of Andy and Gail sat in the back of a taxi. She had captioned it.

' _Save one of those for me.'_

Smiling, Sam continued to cook, happy to know Andy was enjoying herself even if he couldn't be there.


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Please be patient with me. On April 21st I was told I had tendinitis in my pointer finger, thumb and little finger on my right hand. The pain has now spread and is in my left hand, back, neck, knees, ankles. I have now been told my pain could be caused by Fibromyalgia. A lifelong, chronic pain condition that, as well as pain, causes headaches, depression and exhaustion/fatigue. There is no cure and I am working towards managing the pain, but it is difficult, especially as I can't even cook at the moment. But enough about me - let's find out what's going on with Sam and Andy!**

* * *

Sam woke suddenly, his heart beat thumping fast in his chest. Looking around him, he was sure he had heard something. Calming himself down, he reached for his bedside light. Just as he reached the switch, he heard the noise that had startled him awake. He flipped the light on quietly and rummaged in his bedside drawer for his gun. Usually he would have left it in the living room, but as Katy was staying, he elected to keep it in room out of her reach.

Before he found the cold dark metal in the drawer, he saw his door open slowly.

"Uncle Sam" he heard a whisper "are you awake?"

"Katy?" Sam asked.

"I had a bad dream."

Sam chuckled and climbed out of bed and headed towards Katy.

She raised her arms and he picked her up.

"There were monsters."

* * *

Andy and Gail got back to their hotel in time to get ready for dinner.

"Miss Andy, Miss Gail, there are packages for you!" the receptionist called to them.

Andy was confused, then she remembered she and Gail had their jewellery sent to the hotel.

They walked to the desk and Andy was surprised when the receptionist handed her not only the small bag containing her earrings, but a large thin box, a small square box and a bunch of flowers.

Gail took hold of some of the packages and the two girls headed back up to their room. They dropped them onto the bed and Andy looked though them while Gail got in the shower. She looked at the card that came with the flowers. They were from her dad telling her to have a good time.

She pulled the grey ribbon from the slim black box. There was a black envelope resting on red tissue paper. Reading the card inside the envelope, Andy had to slow herself as she tore at the tissue paper. Her hand brushed against something soft and she pulled it out of the box.

"I will _kill_ Gail" She thought as she held up the delicate black dress she had tried on earlier in the day.

"Oh, so you opened it at last?" Gail asked, emerging from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.

"Why? How? When?" Andy garbled.

"I got it earlier in the boutique. I realised I hadn't got you a birthday gift and you brought me to New York and you looked a-may-zing in it so I thought why not!"

"Thank you, Gail."

"You'll be able to wear it tonight if you hurry up and get in the shower."

* * *

Sam had tried to put Katy back down in her own bed, but she tightened her grip around his neck as he tried, so he gave up and allowed her to sleep in his bed.

He thought, as she was awake, she would need to have a story to get back to sleep, but, knowing she was safe from Monsters with Sam, as soon as he put her in the bed, she was asleep.

He climbed in next to her and pulled the covers over them both.

He had hoped that he would get back to sleep quickly, but soon realised that small children wriggle in their sleep. Within five minutes Katy had hit him in the face, kicked his ribs and wriggled down the bed so she was halfway down it, under the covers.

When he woke from his fitful sleep the following morning, Katy had managed to wriggle the entire way down the bed and turned so her head popped out of the other end. Throwing back the covers carefully so he didn't wake her, Sam got out of bed and went to put a pot of coffee on.

* * *

Andy and Gail stumbled out of the theatre after the show, partly due to their heels and partly due to their magical refilling Champagne glasses.

"I think we should go see Central Park in the dark" Gail announced.

"Why would we do that? I thought we were going out dancing?"

"I heard a rumour that there was a guy dressed in nothing but a cowboy hat and boxers that wanders around Central Park at night playing the guitar!"

"GAIL! I am not walking around a place neither of us know very well to find a guy wearing nothing but underwear and a hat with a guitar!"

"Why not?"

"Because all the dance clubs are about ten minutes in the opposite direction of central park and we have an earlyish flight tomorrow."

"You are such a buzz kill"

"I won't be a buzz kill when we make our flight on time."

"I'd rather go find this guy than go to a dance club. Please?"

"Did you just say please?"

"I did."

"And you'd seriously rather go find this guy than go dancing and drinking?"

"I do!"

"In those shoes?" Andy asked, eyeing up Gail's 4-inch heels.

"We'll get a cab." Gail pleaded, giving Andy the puppy dog eyes.


End file.
